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OF  CALIFORNIA 

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For  all  information  concerning  the  C.  L.  S.  C.  address 

John  H.  Vincent,  Drawer  194,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

THE  REQUIRED  LITERATURE  FOR  1894-5. 

THK  GROWTH  OF  THE  ENGLISH  NATION  (illus- 
trated). Katharine  Coman  and  Elizabeth  Kendall, 
Professors  of  History  in  Wellesley  College  .  .  $1.00 

EUROBE  IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  (illus- 
trated). H.  P.  Judson,  Professor  of  Political  Sci- 
ence, University  of  Chicago 1.00 

FROM  CHAUCER  TO  TENNYSON  (with  portraits). 
Henry  A.  Beers,  Professor  of  English  Literature, 
Yale  University 1.00 

RENAISSANCE  AND  MODERN  ART  (illustrated).  W. 
H.  Goodyear,  Lecturer  to  the  Brooklyn  Insti- 
tute   1.00 

WALKS  AND  TALKS  IN  THE  GEOLOGICAL  FIELD 
(illustrated).  Alexander  Winchell,  late  Professor 
of  Geology,  University  of  Michigan  .  .  .  1.00 

THE  CHAUTAUQUAN  (12  numbers,  illustrated)       .     2.00 


>HYSIOGRAPHICAL  MAP 

OF  THE 

BRITISH  ISLES 


Cbautauqua  iRea&ino  Circle  Xfterature 

v_, 

THE  GROWTH 

OF  THE 

ENGLISH    NATION 


BY 


KATHARINE  COMAN 

fM 

Professor  of  History  and  Economics  in  Wettesley  College 


AND 

ELIZABETH   KENDALL 

Associate  Professor  of  History  in  IVellesley  College 


FLOOD  AND  VINCENT 

Che  €hautauqua--  Crnturo  press 

MEADVILLE  PENNA 
150  FIFTH  AVE.  NEW  YORK 
1894 


Copyright,  1894, 
By  FLOOD  <fe  VINCKNT. 


The  Chautauqua- Century  Press,  Meadville,  Pa.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped,  Printed,  and  Bound  by  Flood  &  Vincent. 


PREFACE. 

THIS  little  treatise  traces  the  growth  of  the  English 
nation  from  its  beginnings  in  a  weak  and  struggling  island 
community  to  its  present  attainment  of  maritime  suprem- 
acy and  world-wide  empire.  Such  a  study  must  concern 
itself,  primarily,  with  social,  economic,  and  political  con- 
ditions, since  national  achievement  is  the  outcome  of 
national  character — the  resultant  of  all  the  forces  operating 
upon  a  people.  Industrial  prosperity,  intellectual  develop- 
ment, the  evolution  of  methods  of  self-government,  the 
victory  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  over  the  brute  elements 
in  race  temperament — these,  and  not  war  nor  dynastic 
intrigue,  are  the  determining  factors  in  national  progress. 
We  shall,  then,  since  our  space  is  limited,  pay  slight  heed 
to  the  deeds  of  kings  and  potentates,  that  we  may  give 
more  attention  to  the  deeper  influences  at  work.  We  shall 
endeavor  to  understand  the  people  and  those  popular 
movements  that  shape  the  statesman's  policy. 

The  treatment  must,  necessarily,  be  of  the  briefest. 
Readers  desiring  a  fuller  narrative  are  referred  to  Gardi- 
ner's "Student's  History  of  England,"  Bright's  "History 
of  England,"  and  Green's  "History  of  the  English  Peo- 
ple." In  the  attempt  to  recreate  the  life  of  the  past,  the 
historical  novel  and  the  historical  play  lend  welcome  aid. 
It  is  hoped  that  the  illustrative  readings  indicated  in  con- 
nection with  the  several  chapters  will  add  much  to  the 
pleasure  of  the  student's  work.  Yet  a  word  of  caution  is 
necessary.  It  must  be  remembered  that  in  any  imagin ti- 
nt 


iv  Preface. 

tive  representation,  justice  and  accuracy  are  often  sacrificed 
for  the  sake  of  dramatic  interest.  One  must  test  the  im- 
pressions of  the  artist  by  the  conclusions  of  scientific  his- 
tory. 

KATHARINE  COMAN. 

Wellesley,  Mass.,  June  6, 189U. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER.  PAGB. 

I.  THE  ISLAND  HOME  OF  THE  ENGLISH          .         9 

II.  RACE  ELEMENTS  OF  THE  ENGLISH  NATION       21 

III.  NORMAN  ENGLAND         .  .  .  .47 

IV.  FUSION  OF  RACES  .  .  .  .71 
V.  STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  CHARTER            .           .       88 

VI.    RISE  OF  THE  COMMONS             .           .           .  1C9 
VII.    STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  CROWN     .           .           .  146 
VIII.    THE  TUDORS  AND  THE  REFORMATION          .  166 
IX.    THE  STUARTS  AND  PURITANISM         .           .  196 
X.    PARTIES  AND  PARTY  GOVERNMENT  .           .  224 
XI.    GROWTH  OF  DEMOCRACY          .           .           .  239 
XII.    INDUSTRIAL  PROGRESS  DURING  THE  EIGH- 
TEENTH AND  NINETEENTH  CENTURIES    .  266 
XIII.    THE  EXPANSION  OF  ENGLAND           .           .  284 
TABLE  OF  BRITISH  COLONIAL  POSSESSIONS. 


The  required  books  of  the  C.  L.  S.  C.  are  recommended  by  a 
Council  of  six.  It  must,  however,  be  understood  that 
recommendation  does  not  involve  an  approval  by  the 
Council,  or  by  any  member  of  it,  of  every  principle  or 
doctrine  contained  in  the  book  recommended. 


LIST  OF  MAPS. 

PHYSIOGRAPHICAL  MAP  OF  THE  BRITISH 

ISLES       .....  Frontispiece. 

PAGE. 

ENGLAND      .......         8 

OUTLINE  MAP  OF  ENGLAND      .  .  .  .15 

OUTLINE  MAP  OF  WALES  .  .  .  .17 

OUTLINE  MAP  OF  SCOTLAND      .  .  .  .18 

OUTLINE  MAP  OF  IRELAND       .  .  .  .19 

ROMAN  BRITAIN  .  .  .        Facing  page  25 

BRITAIN  IN  597  .          .  .  "         "    31 

THE  ENGLISH  EMPIRE  IN  THE  TENTH  AND  ELEV- 
ENTH CENTURIES        .  .  .        Facing  page  41 
ENGLAND  AND  THE  FRENCH  POSSESSIONS  OF  WIL- 
LIAM I.,  1087     ....         Facing  page  50 

DOMINIONS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  ANJOU  "        "     73 

ENGLAND  AND  WALES  IN  1643  .  "        "   207 

THE  BRITISH  ISLES  IN  1881       .  .  .  .275 

MAP  OF  WORLD,  SHOWING  BRITISH  POSSESSIONS 

AND  PROTECTORATES  .  .      Facing  page  284 


vii 


MAP  OF 

ENGLAND 


THE 
GROWTH  OF  THE  ENGLISH    NATION. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  ISLAND  HOME  OF  THE  ENGLISH. 

THE  life-story  of  a  nation,  like  that  of  an  individual,  is 
in  good  part  determined  by  inheritance  and  environment. 
The  national  traits  inherited  from  ancestral  races  and  the 
tendencies  impressed  by  the  physical  features  of  the 
country  give  to  a  people  its  peculiar  character.  A  nation's 
history,  the  sum  of  its  achievements,  is  the  essential  ex- 
pression of  its  individuality.  Circumstances  may  modify 
its  development.  Propitious  events  may  further,  or  hostile 
interference  may  thwart,  the  accomplishment  of  its  des- 
tiny, but  at  no  time  in  the  history  of  a  nation  is  the  effect 
of  physical  environment  and  race  inheritance  wholly  ob- 
scured. 

The  home  of  the  English  people  is  a  group  of  islands, 
5,000  in  number,  lying  off  the  west  coast  of  Europe.  They 
look  on  the  map  like  icebergs  floating  away  from  a  huge 
old  glacier.  Most  of  them  are  mere  ledges  of  rock  lifting 
a  few  acres  of  grass  land  beyond  reach  of  the  waves. 
'Some  are  so  bare  that  they  only  serve  as  homes  for  the 
sea-birds.  Many  are  picturesque  and  romantic — Stafla  and 
lona,  Holy  Isle  and  the  Isle  of  Wight,  have  furnished 
refuge  to  persecuted  saints  and  kings — but  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  alone  are  of  sufficient  size  to  have  considerable 
influence  on  the  national  character.  The  area  of  the 

9 


10 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Area. 


Physical 
make-up. 


ivantage  of 
ular 
ition. 


British  Isles  is  121,481  square  miles,  about  one  four  hun- 
dred and  thirtieth  part  of  the  land  surface  of  the  globe. 
In  extent  they  are  somewhat  larger  than  New  England, 
somewhat  less  than  Japan.  This  seems  too  small  a  country 
to  cut  any  very  striking  figure  in  the  world's  history,  and 
yet  the  English  government  controls  to-day  one  fourth  of 
the  land  area  of  the  globe.  The  population  of  the  British 
Empire  is  ten  times  that  of  the  British  Isles.  Nineteenth 
century  Englishmen  boast,  and  with  good  reason,  that  the 
sun  never  sets  on  Her  Majesty's  dominions. 

How  can  we  account  for  this  extraordinary  national 
development  ?  Much  is  doubtless  due  to  certain  inherent 
qualities  in  the  English  people,  but  much  is  the  result  of 
physical  environment.  We  need  to  find  out  first  of  all, 
what  in  the  physical  make-up  of  the  British  Isles  has 
contributed  to  the  success  of  the  English  race.  The  most 
apparent  fact  regarding  these  islands  is  that  they  lie  within 
easy  reach  of  Europe.  The  Straits  of  Dover  are  but  twenty 
miles  across.  The  water  is  nowhere  of  great  depth,  300 
feet  in  the  English  Channel  and  70  feet  in  the  North  Sea. 
The  British  Isles,  in  fact,  were  originally  part  of  the  Con- 
tinent. What  is  now  the  bed  of  the  North  Sea  was  once 
low-lying  plain  over  which  animals  now  extinct  and,  it 
may  be,  prehistoric  men  made  their  way.  At  no  time  has 
communication  been  impossible,  but  it  has  always  been 
attended  by  hazard.  The  rudest  boat  can  cross  the  Chan- 
nel in  calm  weather  without  harm,  but  these  are  tempestu- 
ous seas  and  such  storms  may  rise  as  put  a  man-of-war 
in  peril.  Several  times  in  English  history  this  natural 
isolation  has  been  an  effective  defense  against  attack.  The 
great  Spanish  Armada  was  dashed  in  pieces  on  the  Irish 
coast  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  three  centuries  later  the 
all-conquering  Napoleon  shrank  from  the  risk  involved  in 
an  invasion  of  England.  In  the  early  centuries  of  its 


The  Island  Home  of  the  English.  11 

history,  Great  Britain  was  frequently  overrun  and  subju- 
gated by  her  continental  neighbors,  but  the  Norman  con- 
querors may  be  said  to  have  announced  England's  Monroe 
doctrine.  Thenceforward  the  British  Isles  were  not  open 
to  colonization.  From  the  twelfth  century,  the  inhabitants 
of  these  islands  have  repelled  all  invaders  and  stoutly 
maintained  their  national  integrity.  Accessible  from  the 
Continent  yet  easily  independent  of  it,  the  English  people 
have  enjoyed  the  rare  privilege  of  a  free  and  natural  race 
development.  Unhampered  by  foreign  interference,  they 
have  dealt  with  the  several  problems  of  political,  social,  and 
religious  life  under  conditions  comparatively  simple,  and 
have  arrived  at  results  which,  though  not  perhaps  perfect 
in  themselves  or  of  universal  application,  are  at  least  ad- 
mirably suited  to  the  national  character.  On  the  other 
hand,  this  isolation  has  not  been  such  as  to  prevent  Eng- 
land from  sharing  in  every  vital  impulse  that  has  stirred 
the  Continent.  The  Crusades,  the  Renaissance,  the  Refor- 
mation, the  Revolution,  each  in  turn  has  deeply  influenced 
English  life  and  roused  the  English  race  to  nobler  achieve- 
ment. 

A  no  less  important  consequence  of  its  insular  situation 
is  the  maritime  greatness  of  the  English  nation.  An  advantages. 
island  people  are  of  necessity  seafarers.  They  must  ven- 
ture across  the  water  in  search  of  what  their  narrow  realm 
does  not  provide.  Great  Britain,  as  we  shall  see,  is  pe- 
culiarly fitted  to  foster  a  race  of  mariners.  Her  firths, 
estuaries,  and  river  mouths  form  natural  harbors,  and  her 
situation  is  most  favorable.  Lying  over  against  France, 
Holland,  and  the  Baltic,  is  a  series  of  seaports  in.  direct 
communication  with  these  rich  and  populous  regions  of 
the  Continent.  The  western  harbors  formed  by  the  Clyde, 
the  Mersey,  and  the  Severn,  look  toward  Ireland  and 
America.  During  the  Middle  Ages,  Venice  was  the  busi- 


12  The  Growth  of  the  JSnglish  Nation. 

ness  center  of  the  Occident,  and  London  but  a  remote 
trading  post  lying  near  the  edge  of  the  world ;  but  the 
discovery  of  America  has  opened  industrial  opportunities 
hitherto  undreamed  of,  and  altered  commercial  relations. 
London  proves  to  be  at  the  center  of  the  land  surface  of  the 
globe,  and  England  lies  in  the  direct  highway  of  modern 
trade.  These  are  great  natural  advantages,  but  England's 
maritime  supremacy  has  not  been  won  without  a  struggle. 
Spain,  Holland,  and  France  were  before  her  in  the  field 
and  must  be  driven  out.  Only  by  dint  of  a  long  series  of 
commercial  wars  has' England  secured  her  haughty  title  of 
Mistress  of  the  Seas.  The  people's  pride  in  this  hard-won 
victory  is  voiced  in  the  national  song, 

"  Rule  Britannia !  Britannia  rules  the  waves." 
These  commercial  advantages  are  rendered  more  valuable 
by  the  unusual  facilities  for  internal  communication.  No 
part  of  the  country  is  more  than  one  hundred  miles  from 
the  coast,  and  water  ways,  natural  and  artificial,  give  access 
to  the  remotest  regions.  England  boasts  five  navigable 
rivers,  the  Yorkshire  Ouse,  the  Trent,  the  Mersey,  the 
Thames,  and  the  Severn.  These  reach  far  into  the  heart  of 
the  country  and  their  head  waters  are  connected  by  a 
system  of  canals.  Ships  may  pass  across  Scotland  from  the 
North  to  the  Irish  Sea  by  the  Forth  and  Clyde  canal. 
Ireland's  principal  river,  the  Shannon,  is  navigable  nearly 
to  its  source,  and  is  connected  by  canal  with  Belfast, 
Dublin,  and  Waterford.  To-day  the  railroad  has  almost 
superseded  water  traffic,  but  the  rivers  of  Britain,  these 
"roads  that  run,"  have  served  an  important  part  in  pro- 
moting her  commercial  greatness. 

This  wave-washed  realm  is  further  blessed  by  a  most  for- 
C  lunate. 

tunate  climate.  An  island  climate  is  usually  moist  and 
equable,  but  the  British  Isles  are  peculiarly  favored 
in  that  they  lie  directly  in  the  path  of  the  Gulf  Stream. 


The  Island  Home  of  the  English.  13 

This  great  ocean  current  is  a  veritable  godsend  to  Britain. 
Bearing  upon  its  bosom  the  atmosphere  of  a  subtropical  sea, 
it  beats  against  the  western  coasts,  bringing  to  a  country  of 
the  latitude  of  Labrador  the  climate  of  Virginia.  Dublin  has 
the  mean  temperature  of  Savannah,  though  two  thousand 
miles  farther  from  the  equator.  The  Gulf  Stream  brings  to 
this  lucky  land  not  merely  heat  but  moisture.  The  warm 
west  winds  break  on  the  mountainous  coasts  of  Ireland, 
Wales,  and  Scotland,  and  discharge  abundant  supplies  of 
rain.  Here  the  average  annual  rainfall  amounts,  in  certain 
districts,  to  seven  feet.  The  rainfall  of  England  is,  however, 
not  half  so  heavy.  The  influence  of  this  warm,  moist  cli- 
mate not  only  upon  the  occupations  but  upon  the  habit  and 
thought  of  the  people,  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  The 
humidity  is  a  great  advantage  in  certain  textile  industries 
— notably  cotton-spinning.  The  winters  are  rarely  so  severe 
as  to  interfere  with  field-works  or  transportation,  .while  the 
wholesome,  bracing  atmosphere  actually  stimulates  to  ex- 
ertion. 

In  natural  resources  the  English  race  is  well  endowed.   ¥ 

Physical 

The  mineral  deposits  of  the  British  Isles  are  not  only  rich  resources, 
and  of  great  variety,  but  so  placed  as  to  be  readily  accessi- 
ble. Long  before  the  English  came  to  Britain,  tin  and 
copper  were  extracted  in  some  rude  fashion  from  the  rocks 
of  Cornwall.  To-day,  not  only  tin  and  copper,  but  coal  and 
iron,  lead  and  zinc,  are  mined  with  such  success  that 

notwithstanding  the  more  extensive  mineral   regions  of 

Agricultural 

America,  Africa,  and  Australia,  Britain  is  still  one  of  the  area  amounts 

to  75  per  cent 

most  productive  mining  countries  in  the  world.    Rarely  of  total  area  in 

does  a  country  combine  such  mineral  wealth  with  so  fertile  60  per  cent  ofe' 

total  area  in    ' 
a  soil  as  that  of  the  British  Isles.    Wales  and  Scotland,  to  Wales. 

25  per  cent  of    \ 
be  sure,  can  boast  but  scanty  agricultural  resources,  but  total  area  in 

Scotland, 
there  are  nowhere  more  fruitful  regions  than  the  pasture  "5  per  cent  of 

total  area  in 
lands  of  Ireland  and  the  gardens  and  wheat  fields  of  eastern  Ireland. 


14 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


37,888,153  in 
1861. 


Political 
divisions. 


England. 


and  southern  England.  Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  the 
soil  of  Britain  not  merely  fed  her  own  people,  but  fur- 
nished considerable  quantities  of  grain,  cattle,  and  wool  to 
foreign  lands.  To-day,  however,  her  population  has  out- 
stripped the  food-bearing  capacity  of  her  fields,  and  Britain 
is  obliged  to  look  to  Australia  and  America  for  supplies. 
Nineteenth  century  Britain  is  the  richest  country  in  the  Old 
World.  Her  present  wealth  is  estimated  at  $49,000,000,000, 
or  $1,235  for  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  The  wealth  of  the  United  States  is  reckoned  at 
$64,120,000,000,  but  our  population  is  so  much  larger  that 
our  average  per  capita  wealth  is  only  $1,050.  The  wealth- 
producing  facilities  of  Britain  enable  her  to  support  a 
dense  population.  This  surpassing  prosperity  has  a  double 
source.  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  which  of  two  coopera- 
ting causes  has  been  more  influential — Britain's  exceptional 
advantages  of  situation,  soil,  and  mineral  wealth  or  the 
pronounced  industrial  genius  of  her  people. 

The  four  political  divisions  of  the  United  Kingdom  were 
originally  independent  and  though  they  have  been  under 
one  government  for  centuries,  each  still  preserves  a  marked 
individuality.  We  can  account  for  this  dissimilarity  in  some 
measure  by  race  inheritance,  since  the  English  are  Teutons 
by  origin,  while  the  Irish,  Welsh,  and  Scotch  are  Celts ; 
but  even  more  is  due  to  the  modifying  influence  of  physical 
conditions.  Ireland,  Wales,  and  Scotland  have  been  but 
shabbily  dealt  with  by  Dame  Nature,  while  England  has 
fallen  heir  to  her  richest  bounties.  For  example,  England 
has  the  advantage  of  situation  as  regards  Europe.  The 
mountains  of  Great  Britain  are  piled  up  in  the  north  and 
west.  Scotland,  Westmoreland,  Wales,  and  Cornwall  are 
mere  masses  of  rock  and  moor.  From  these  inhospitable 
heights  the  rich  plains  of  England  slope  eastward  to  the 
Channel  and  the  North  Sea.  Her  water  courses  cross  the 


The  Island  Home  of  the  English. 


15 


0 


country  from  west  to  east,  forming  natural  highways  for 
commerce.  Four  of  her  navigable  rivers,  the  Tyne,  the 
Tees,  the  Trent,  and  the  Thames,  give  direct  access  to  the 
Channel  trade.  Their  harbors  stand  like  so  many  open 
doors,  inviting 
the  products,  the 
men,  the  ideas  of 
Europe.  Eng- 
land may  be  said 
to  turn  her  back 
on  Ireland  and 
to  face  the  Conti- 
nent. She  is  in- 
deed the  favored 
sister.  The  west 
winds  come  to 
her  with  warmth 
and  moisture, 
but  not  till  ex- 
cess of  rain  has 


Outline  Map  of  England. 


been  precipitated  on  the  rugged  heights  of  the  Welsh 
mountains.  The  Channel  fogs,  it  is  true,  invade  the  low 
districts  of  the  eastern  coast,  but  they  have  this  virtue,  at 
least,  that  they  insure  England's  harvest  against  drought. 
Industrially,  England  is  divided  into  two  distinct  parts. 
A  line  drawn  from  the  estuary  of  the  Humber  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Severn  would  approximately  represent  the 
division.  Southeast  of  this  line  lies  agricultural  Eng- 
land. The  rich  lime  soil  and  the  gentle  rivers  of  this 
region  make  it  one  of  the  most  productive  in  the  world. 
No  more  fertile  fields  gladden  the  heart  of  man  than  those 
of  the  Fen  country  and  the  Thames  valley,  while  the 
pasture  lands  of  the  Chiltern  Hills,  the  North  and  South 
Downs,  and  the  Cotswold  Hills  nourish  famous  breeds  of 


16  The  Oroivth  of  the  English  Nation. 

sheep.  Northwest  of  our  imaginary  line  is  the  mineral 
wealth  of  England.  Here  lie  the  great  coal  fields  of  North- 
umberland, Durham,  Yorkshire,  Derby,  Stafford,  Leicester, 
Warwick,  and  Lancashire.  They  are  1,650  square  miles  in 
extent  and  constitute  the  mainspring  of  England's  manufac- 
turing industries.  In  the  midst  of  this  immense  coal  area 
rises  the  Pennine  chain,  a  range  of  mountain  and  moorland 
which  thrusts  itself  like  a  great  wedge  200  miles  into  the 
heart  of  England.  It  is  an  axis  of  carboniferous  rock  and 
along  its  barren  slopes  lie  rich  mineral  deposits,  iron,  zinc, 
and  lead.  This  remarkable  combination  of  fuel  with  min- 
popuiatforf  in  eral  resources  has  attracted  to  the  region  the  capital  and 
county,"™  g.,  labor  force  of  England.  Here  are  the  mining  districts  of 

Bedford,  348  to    ._     ,,          ,      ,       ,          ,   -^      ,  -n-         ,.     j.-, 

sq.  m.;    with  Northumberland  and  Durham.    Here  he  the  great  manu- 
oouiuy^e?  #f  facturing  towns  of  Leeds,  Nottingham,  Sheffield,  Birming- 
to"  sq?1^. ; '  or  ham,  and  Manchester.    The  centers  of  wealth  and  popula- 
facturingiai   '"  tion  were  originally  in  the   agricultural   regions  of  the 
Lancaskire,^"  south,  but  the  opening  of  the  coal  measures  has  reversed 
1,828      sq.  m.  con(jitions  an(j  ^he  most  populous  districts  of  England  to- 
day lie  north  of  the  Trent.     The  Pennine  district  does  not, 
however,  monopolize  the  mineral  wealth  of  England.    The 
rocky  promontory  of  Cornwall  supports  a  large  mining 
population.    These  barren  hills  bear  rich  veins  of  copper, 
lead,  and  tin.    Many  lesser  resources  have  contributed  their 
quota  to  England's  prosperity.     In  Cheshire,  along  the 
valley  of  the  Weaver,  lie  rich  deposits  of  salt.    They  have 
been  known  for  1,800  years,  but  have  only  in  modern  times 
been  extensively  worked.    In  addition  to  its  coal  measures, 
Staffordshire  boasts  a  fine  clay  soil  admirably  adapted  to 
0  the  manufacture  of  earthenware.    Here  Wedgwood  and 

many  lesser  craftsmen  have  practiced  the  potter's  art.    The 
remarkable  success  of  the  industry  has  won  for  this  district 
the  name  of  "  the  Potteries." 
wales.  If  now  we  turn  from  merry  England  to  the  little  prin- 


The  Island  Home  of  the  English. 


17 


cipality  of  Wales,  we  shall  find  a  marked  contrast.  This  is 
a  rugged,  mountainous  country,  picturesque  and  romantic 
enough,  beloved  of  the  tourist,  but  scantily  endowed  with 
industrial  resources.  These  massive  peaks,  enveloped  in 
mist  and  rain,  afford  meager  opportunity  for  pasture  or 
tillage.  A  circumscribed  agricultural  district  lies  along  the 
north  coast  in  the  valleys  of  the  Conway  and  the  Clwyd, 
but  the  best  industrial  opportunity  of  Wales  is  in  the  slate 
quarries  of  the  Cambrian  range 
and  the  coal  mines  of  the  south. 
The  coal  fields  of  Wales  are 
nearly  equal  in  extent  to  those 
of  England.  That  of  the  Black 
Mountains  is  900  square  miles 
in  area  and  10,000  feet  in  depth. 
This  has  become  the  center  of 
the  smelting  industry.  A  dense 
population  is  gathered  in  a 
series  of  smoky  towns,  Swansea,  Outline  Map  of  Wales. 
Cardiff,  Merthyr-Tydfil,  and  Ystradyfodwg.  From  Corn- 
wall, from  France,  from  North  and  South  America,  from 
Australia,  large  quantities  of  metal  are  brought  to  the 
foundries  of  South  Wales.  But  this  prosperity  is  offset 
by  the  poverty  of  vast  mountain  wastes.  Wales  as  a  whole 
supports  but  a  sparse  population.  Her  area  is  one  seventh 
that  of  England  while  her  population  is  but  one  eighteenth 
as  large. 

Scotland  in  physical  make-up  is  quite  comparable  to 
Wales.  It  looks  but  a  jagged  mass  of  rock  from  which 
broken  bits,  the  Shetlands,  the  Orkneys,  the  Hebrides, 
Skye,  Mull,  Arran,  are  crumbling  off  into  the  sea.  The 
country  is  naturally  divided  into  three  districts  distin-  Scotland- 
guished  from  one  another  by  marked  physical  features. 
First  of  these  is  the  picturesque  northern  section,  the 


18 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Highlands,  the  land  of  shootings  and  salmon  rivers.  It 
contains  two  thirds  of  Scotland's  territory,  but  very  little 
of  her  material  wealth.  Fishing  and  sheep  raising  are  the 
principal  employments.  The  Lowland  Plain  is  a  long  nar- 
row valley,  which  may  once  have  been  an  isthmus,  run- 
ning across  the  coun- 
try from  east  to  west, 
from  the  Firth  of 
Forth  to  the  Firth  of 
Clyde.  This  region 
contains  the  mineral 
wealth  of  Scotland. 
Here  are  rich  deposits 
of  coal  and  iron  which 

-          /     —     \     i  sustain    flourishing 

\r      )        *  A  X^^  manufactures.     Here, 

V         \  .*Nr  too,    are   Scotland's 

harbors  and  hence  her 
commercial  opportu- 
nity. The  population 
of  this  favored  region 
is  more  than  half  that 
of  all  Scotland.  The 
third  natural  division 
is  that  of  the  Lowland 
Hills,  Scotland's  nat- 
ural barrier  against  in- 
vasion from  England, 
the  "border"  of  the 
These  hills  are  mo- 


Outline  Map  of  Scotland. 

ballads  and  historical  romance, 
notonous  moorlands.  They  lack  the  picturesque  beauty 
of  the  Highlands  and  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  Plain. 
They  are  good  for  little  but  sheep  pasture.  The 
Tweed  valley  is  a  more  prosperous  region  ;  verging  on 


The  Island  Home  of  the  English. 


19 


the  coal  districts  of  England,  it  shares  their  prosperity. 

Of  the  physical  sources  of  national  well-being,  Ireland  Ireland, 
has  but  a  niggardly  portion.  The  island  is  shaped  like 
a  saucer.  Along  the  coasts,  north,  west,  and  south,  runs  a 
series  of  low  mountain  ranges.  In  the  east  alone  are  there 
considerable  stretches  of  sandy  shore  and  even  here  the 
coast  line  is  broken  by  two  mountain  masses,  the  Mourne 
and  the  "Wicklow  hills.  The  interior  is  an  undulating 
plain  with  hardly  suf- 
ficient slope  to  afford 
watershed  to  its  slug- 
gish rivers.  It  has  a 
limestone  foundation 
and  the  soil  is  as  fer- 
tile as  that  of  England, 
but  it  is  too  wet  for 
successful  agriculture 
and  is  given  over,  in 
great  part,  to  cattle 
pasture.  Numerous 
lakes  and  tracts  of  bog 

land   lie    across    the  Outline  Map  of  Ireland, 

heart  of  the  country  and  reduce  its  tillable  area.  Ire- 
land gets  the  first  effect  of  the  warm  winds  from  the 
Atlantic  and  the  rainfall  is  excessive.  The  number  of 
rainy  days  in  a  year  averages  208.  The  climate  is  in  con- 
sequence warm,  damp,  and  debilitating.  Moreover  the 
mineral  resources  of  the  country  are  scant.  The  immense 
coal  measures  that  originally  covered  its  surface  were  carried 
away  ages  ago  by  glacial  action.  Isolated  fragments  of  the 
once  abundant  store  are  found  in  the  hills,  but  the  output 
of  the  mines  is  quite  inadequate  to  the  industrial  needs 
of  the  country.  Ireland  possesses  rich  deposits  of  iron,  but 
they  cannot  be  worked  to  advantage  because  fuel  is  lack- 


Make-up  of 
Ireland: 
75  per  cent 
arable  land. 
9  per  cent  bog 
and  marsh. 
11  per  cent  bar- 
ren mountain. 
4  per  cent 
water. 
1  percent 
woods. 


20 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Queenstown. 


Cf .  density  of 
population : 
Scotland,  132 
to  sq.  m. 
Ireland,  144  to 
sq.  m. 

Wales,   206  to 
sq.  m. 

England  ,540  to 
sq.  m. 

Belgium,  540 
to  sq.  m. 
Saxony,  598 
to  sq.  m. 


ing.  The  mountains  contain  other  minerals,  copper,  gold, 
silver,  and  lead,  and  these  have  been  mined  at  different 
epochs  in  Irish  history  ;  but  the  ores  are  nowhere  so  rich  as 
those  of  the  Pennine  and  Cornish  districts  and  the  mining 
industries  are  to-day  actually  declining.  The  fates  seem  to 
have  conspired  against  Ireland.  Her  rivers  rarely  afford 
water  power  sufficient  for  manufactures.  Her  natural  har- 
bors lie  to  the  west  and  north  where  they  are  of  little  use. 
One  first-rate  harbor  lies  on  the  south  coast  and  has  become 
important  since  the  steamship  lines  running  from  Liver- 
pool to  America  have  made  it  a  calling  station.  England 
stands  between  Ireland  and  the  Continent.  She  can  con- 
trol and  has  thus  far  stifled  the  commercial  ventures  of  the 
weaker  country.  Deprived  of  commercial  and  industrial 
opportunities,  the  Irish  people  are  restricted  to  agriculture. 
The  population  is  distributed  over  the  land  in  villages  and 
scattered  hamlets.  There  are  but  six  towns  of  more  than 
20,000  inhabitants,  Dublin,  Belfast,  Cork,  Limerick,  Lon- 
donderry, and  Waterford.  These  it  will  be  noticed  are  all 
on  the  seacoast  and  owe  their  importance  to  some  commer- 
cial advantage.  In  northern  Ireland  conditions  are  more 
favorable.  The  climate  is  bracing,  the  juxtaposition  of  two 
such  harbors  as  Belfast  and  Glasgow  is  a  spur  to  commerce, 
while  ready  access  to  the  Scotch  coal  district  renders  tex- 
tile manufactures  profitable.  The  poverty  of  Ireland  may 
be  partly  accounted  for  by  misgovernment  and  race  weak- 
ness, but  it  is  mainly  due  to  the  lack  of  material  resources. 
The  comparative  prosperity  of  the  political  divisions  of 
Britain  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  movement  of  popula- 
tion. Scotland  has  always  been  sparsely  settled.  The 
population  of  Ireland  is  actually  decreasing  while  that  of 
England  and  Wales  has  rapidly  increased  since  the  opening 
up  of  their  mineral  resources.  Saxony  alone  of  European 
countries  supports  a  denser  population  than  England. 


CHAPTER  II. 

RACE  ELEMENTS  OF  THE  ENGLISH  NATION. 

Illustrative  Readings.  449  A.  D.    Landing  of  the  Jutes. 

597.  Augustine's  Mission. 
House  of  the  Wolflngs ;  Morris.         g29<  Union  under  E  ^ 

Ekkehard;Scheffel.  871-901.  Reign  of  Alfred. 

Alfred  the  Great ;  Hughes.  87g>  Treaty  Qf  Wedmore. 

955.  Union  under  Edgar. 

1016.  Conquest  by  Cnut. 

1042.  Saxon  Restoration. 
55  B.  C.    Invasion  of  the  Romans.    1066.  Death  of  Edward. 

THE  BRITONS   AND  ROME. 

The  most  ancient  descriptions  of  the  island  now  known 
as  Great  Britain  show  that  it  must  once  have  been  very 
like  northern  Russia  of  to-day,  a  land  of  dense  forest, 
barren  moor,  and  desolate  fen.  The  southern  coast  was 
lined  with  forests  stretching  with  scarcely  a  break  from 
Kent  into  Devon.  Another  great  woodland  bordered  the 
Severn  on  both  sides.  The  center  of  the  island  was  cov- 
ered by  forest  and  thicket.  From  the  Peak  to  the  Tyne 
rolled  almost  unbroken  woodland  and  moor,  and  beyond, 
impassable  forests  covered  the  lowlands  between  the  Ger- 
man Ocean  and  the  hills  of  Strathclyde.  Around  the 
Wash  the  great  fens  stretched  inland  as  far  as  modern 
Cambridge,  cutting  off  the  coast  from  the  interior.  To  the 
north  and  west  were  barren  waste  and  rugged,  inaccessible 
mountain  wilds. 

We  do  not  know  by  what  race  this  desolate  land  was  first 

Inhabitants, 
inhabited.    Traces  have  been  found  of  a  primitive  people, 

cave  dwellers,  but  they  have  passed  away,  leaving  no  clue 
as  to  their  condition  except  here  and  there  an  etching  on 
a  rock,  or  the  engraved  tooth  of  a  cave  lion.  At  the 

21 


22 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  Celts. 


55  B.  C. 


Race  charac- 
teristics of 
the  Britons. 


earliest  time  concerning  which  we  have  information  the 
country  was  occupied  by  two  distinct  races,  the  Iberian 
and  the  Celt.  The  Iberians  were  few  in  number  and  were 
dark-haired  and  of  small  stature,  a  type  still  surviving 
perhaps  in  the  swarthy  Irish  of  the  west.  At  one  time 
they  held  the  whole  island,  but  they  were  driven  into  the 
remoter  districts  or  absorbed  by  the  successive  waves  of 
Celts  that  a  little  later  swept  over  the  country. 

The  bulk  of  the  population  was  composed  of  Celts  of  the 
Aryan  group,  a  group  which  includes  Teutons,  Slavs,  Greeks, 
and  some  of  the  ancient  races  of  India  and  Persia.  They 
were  the  first  Aryans  to  enter  Europe,  and,  driven  onward 
by  the  Teutons  who  came  later,  are  now  found  chiefly  in 
the  more  remote  parts  of  the  Continent  and  the  adjoining 
islands,  as  Brittany,  Scotland,  Wales,  and  Ireland.  Those 
who  crossed  over  from  the  mainland  were  of  two  branches, 
the  Gaels,  represented  now  by  the  Irish  and  the  High- 
landers of  Scotland,  and  the  Britons  who  gave  the  island 
its  name  and  who  were  the  ancestors  of  the  modem  Welsh 
and  Cornishmen.  They  all  spoke  the  Celtic  tongue,  and  it 
is  still  the  common  speech  of  Wales  and  the  Scotch  High- 
lands. 

Although  the  island  was  visited  by  men  from  southern 
Europe  by  the  fourth  century  B.  C.,  we  nevertheless  know 
almost  nothing  of  its  early  history.  Csesar  relates  in  his 
Commentaries  that,  when  he  was  planning  his  invasion  of 
Britain,  he  found  it  impossible  to  gain  any  precise  knowl- 
edge of  the  country.  "  Having,  therefore,  called  together  the 
merchants  from  all  parts  of  Gaul,  they  could  neither  inform 
him  of  the  largeness  of  the  island,  nor  what  or  how  powerful 
were  the  nations  that  inhabited  it,  nor  of  their  customs,  or 
arts  of  war."  Apparently  at  the  beginning  of  our  era  the 
Britons  had  not  passed  beyond  the  tribal  stage,  and  the  basis 
of  society  was  the  clan  or  patriarchal  family,  those  of  the 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation. 


23 


same  blood  and  having  the  same  totem  holding  together  and 
shutting  out  all  others.  The  chief  occupation  of  the  tribes 
of  the  north  was  hunting,  but  they  were  great  fishermen, 
although  they  apparently  never  ventured  far  out  at  sea. 
Cattle  constituted  their  wealth,  and  with  them  they  wan- 
dered from  place  to  place,  having  no  settled  home.  The 
Britons  of  the  south  were  more  highly  civilized  than  those 
of  the  north.  Agriculture  was  carried  on  with  some  skill, 
the  tin  mines  of  Cornwall  and  Devon  were  worked,  and 
there  was  a  limited  commerce  with  the  Continent.  The 
remains  of  temples  and  monuments  to  the  dead,  such  as 
Stonehenge  in  Salisbury  Plain,  prove  that  the  principles  of 
mechanics  were  understood. 

The  religion  of  the  Celts  on  both  sides  the  Channel  was 
the  same.  They  worshiped  many  gods,  and  held  sacred 
certain  objects  in  na- 
ture, as  the  oak  and 
mistletoe.  Their  priests, 
called  Druids,  took  an 
influential  part  in  the 
government.  C  se  s  a  r , 
writing  of  Gaul,  says  of 
them  :  "The  Druids 
have  charge  of  all  matters  of  religion  ;  they  conduct  the 
public  and  private  sacrifices  and  interpret  the  omens. 
They  are  held  in  great  honor,  and  many  young  men  come 
to  them  for  instruction.  They  decide  almost  all  contro- 
versies, public  and  private.  ...  If  anyone  does  not 
submit  to  their  decision  he  is  made  an  outlaw.  .  .  . 
The  Druids  do  not  go  to  war,  nor  pay  tribute  with  the  rest. 
.  .  .  The  leading  tenet  of  the  Druids  is  that  the  soul 
does  not  perish,  but  passes  after  death  into  the  body  of 
another  person.  Thus  they  incite  men  to  valor  by  remov- 
ing the  fear  of  death."  In  appearance  the  Celts  were  tall 


Totem,  a  rude 
picture,  as  of  a 
bird,  beast,  or 
the  like ;  used 
as  a  symbolic 
name  or  desig- 
nation of  a 
family. 


Druidical  Ornaments. 


Religion. 


24  The  Oroivth  of  the  English  Nation. 

and  fair.  Ptolemy,  a  Latin  writer  of  the  second  century, 
describes  them  as  "impatient  of  restraint,  and  fond  of 
liberty ;  warlike,  laborious,  fierce  and  imperious,  ingenious 
and  high-spirited." 

Roman  About  the  middle  of  the  first  century  B.  C.,  the  Britons 

Conquest.  came    into    contact  with   the   power   of   Rome.     Caesar 

having  completed  the  conquest  of  Gaul,  "  resolved  to  pass 
over  into  Britain,  as  he  had  certain  intelligence  that  in 
all  his  wars  with  the  Gauls  the  enemies  of  the  common- 
wealth had  ever  received  assistance  from  thence."  We 
have  a  description  in  Caesar's  own  words  of  his  attempted 
landing.  "He  weighed  anchor  about  one  in  the  morning, 
and  about  ten  o'clock  reached  the  coast  of  Britain  where 
he  saw  all  the  cliffs  "  (the  white  cliffs  of  Dover)  "  covered 
with  the  enemy's  forces.  The  nature  of  the  place  was 
such  that,  the  sea  being  bounded  by  steep  mountains,  the 
enemy  might  easily  launch  their  javelins  on  us  from 
above."  Caesar's  first  attempt  to  overcome  the  Britons 
was  a  failure,  but  in  the  following  year  he  came  again.  He 
met  with  a  stubborn  resistance  ;  in  a  critical  moment, 
however,  tribal  jealousy  broke  the  strength  of  the  defense, 
and  the  Romans  won  a  complete  victory.  Thereupon  they 
withdrew,  having  gained  their  end  of  putting  a  check  on 
British  interference  in  Gaul,  and  for  almost  a  century 
longer  the  island  was  left  to  itself. 

About  a  hundred  years  later  Rome  renewed  the  at- 
tack. Perhaps  the  Britons  opened  the  way  to  this  by 
ravaging  the  neighboring  coasts  of  Gaul.  In  43  A.  D.,  a 
Roman  army  invaded  the  island,  and  by  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  rivalries  of  different  tribes  soon  conquered 
the  southern  half  of  the  country,  including  the  much 
coveted  tin  mines  and  the  most  fertile  lands.  Constant 
fighting,  however,  was  necessary  to  secure  these  conquests. 
In  58  A.  D.  Suetonius  Paulinus  was  made  governor  of 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation.  25 

Roman  Britain.  He  at  once  led  an  attack  on  the  island 
of  Mona  (Anglesey),  the  stronghold  of  the  Druids  and 
the  center  of  the  British  resistance.  Suetonius  was  com- 
pletely successful,  but  the  force  of  his  victory  was  almost 
lost  through  the  misgovernment  of  his  subordinates.  Op- 
pressed and  insulted,  the  Britons  of  the  south  rose  against 
their  conquerors  and  a  terrible  massacre  of  the  Romans 
followed.  More  troops  were  sent  from  Gaul,  stern  ven- 
geance was  taken  upon  the  Britons,  and  at  last  Roman 
authority  was  restored.  Agricola,  who  governed  the  island 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  century,  pushed  the  Roman 
conquests  far  into  the  north.  To  secure  what  was  already 
held,  he  felt  it  necessary  to  subdue  the  whole  island.  He 
failed  in  this  but  he  conquered  the  country  as  far  as  the 
Solway  and  the  Tyne.  To  protect  his  conquests  he  built 
a  line  of  forts  between  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde,  and  estab- 
lished a  strong  garrison  at  Eboracum  (York).  Early  in  the 
second  century  the  Emperor  Hadrian  visited  the  island 
and  strengthened  the  defenses  in  the  north  by  building 
a  dyke  or  earth  wall  between  the  Solway  and  the  Tyne,  and 
a  few  years  later  a  wall  of  a  similar  character,  known 
as  the  Wall  of  Antoninus,  was  constructed  along  the  line 
of  Agricola's  forts.  A  final  attempt  to  conquer  the-  wild 
tribes  of  the  north,  the  Picts  and  Scots,  was  made  by 
Emperor  Severus  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century. 
He  failed,  however,  as  those  before  him  had  done,  and 
he  was  obliged  to  content  himself  with  securing  the  lands 
south  of  the  Tyne  by  erecting  a  wall  of  stone  not  far 
from  Hadrian's  earth  dyke.  Parts  of  these  walls  remain 
unto  this  day. 

Throughout  the  Roman  period  the  Picts  and  Scots  of  the 

Britain  under 
north  remained  unsubdued;  south  of  the  firths,  however,   the  Romans. 

the  island  rapidly  became  a  Roman  province.  The  con- 
quered tribes  learned  to  appreciate  the  benefits  of  the 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


rule  of  Rome  as  well  as  to  fear  her  arms.  Peace  and 
good  order  were  maintained.  The  Romans  were  great 
builders  and  engineers,  and  they  soon  covered  Britain  with 
a  network  of  fine  roads  connecting  the  outlying  posts,  such 
as  York  or  Chester,  with  London  and  the  south  coast. 
Along  these  roads  all  the  traffic  of  the  country  was  carried 
on  for  centuries,  and  a  comparison  of  a  map  of  England 
with  a  map  of  Roman  Britain  shows  that  even  now 
many  of  the  railways  follow  the  line  of  the  Roman  roads. 
Towns  and  cities  sprang  into  existence,  often  about  some 
military  station,  as  is  shown  by  the  frequent  termination 
"Chester  "  (Latin  castra,  camp).  Along  the  line  of  the  high- 
ways the  forests  were  cleared  off  and  the  marshes  drained, 
and  in  the  south  much  land  was  brought  under  culti- 
vation. Agriculture  flourished  and  so  much  corn  was  pro- 
duced that  Britain  became  known  as  the  "Granary  of  the 
North."  As  a  result  of  the  closer  connection,  a  brisk  trade 
sprang  up  with  the  Continent.  The  Roman  colonists  who 
settled  in  the  country  introduced  new  modes  of  living. 
Nowhere  within  the  empire  are  the  remains  of  villas  and 
town  houses  more  numerous  and  more  splendid.  The 
southern  coast  was  dotted  with  residences  provided  with 
every  contrivance  for  diminishing  the  unaccustomed  rigor 
of  the  climate,  of  which  the  colonists  wrote  that  it  was 
"  rather  rainy  than  snowy,  and  when  it  is  fine  there  is  a 
fog."  Bath  became  a  popular  resort,  and  the  ruins  recently 
uncovered  there  testify  to  the  luxury  of  the  Roman  col- 
onists. Latin  was  the  official  language  and  was  spoken 
at  least  by  those  Britons  who  dwelt  in  the  towns.  Roman 
law,  the  most  perfect  legal  system  the  world  has  seen, 
was  the  law  of  the  laud  both  for  conqueror  and  conquered. 
Druidism  was  attacked  by  the  Romans  because  of  the  de- 
termined hostility  of  the  priests  to  the  new  rule,  and  its 
rites  were  no  longer  practiced — at  least  openly.  Under  the 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation.  27 

rule  of  Constantine  in  the  fourth  century  Britain  became 
nominally  Christian,  and  the  natives  to  some  extent  ac- 
cepted the  new  religion. 

Nevertheless,  as  a  whole,  the  civilization  of  Rome 
did  not  take  a  strong  hold  upon  Britain.  Even  south  of 
the  Firth  of  Forth  there  must  have  been  large  tracts  of 
country  untouched  by  Roman  influence,  and  outside  of  the 
towns  the  bulk  of  the  population  probably  clung  to  the  old 
customs,  the  old  language,  and  the  old  faith.  It  is  easy  to 
understand  why  it  was  so.  Remote  from  Rome,  Britain 
was  not  readily  brought  under  the  influence  of  Latin  civili- 
zation. Probably  few  from  southern  Europe  came  to  the 
island.  The  climate  was  forbidding  and  commerce  and 
trade  offered  but  few  attractions.  To  the  last  Britain  must 
have  remained  a  military  colony,  a  kind  of  Roman  Algeria, 
the  Romans  a  mere  handful  among  an  alien,  subject  people. 
But  the  chief  reason  for  the  superficial  character  of  the 
civilization  of  the  Britons  was  the  short  duration  of  the 
Roman  rule.  Britain  was  the  last  of  Rome's  conquests 
in  the  west,  and  was  the  first  to  be  given  up.  The  efforts 
to  secure  Roman  Britain  against  the  Picts  and  Scots  had 
been  only  in  part  successful.  The  walled  towns,  the  large 
number  of  troops  stationed  in  the  island,  show  how  the 
tribes  of  the  north  were  dreaded. 

In  the  fourth  century  a  new  danger  appeared  in  the 
band  of  pirates  that  ravaged  the  eastern  coast.  The  shores 
of  the  Continent  from  the  north  of  the  peninsula  of  Jut- 
land to  the  mouth  of  the  Ems  wrere  occupied  by  men  of 
the  Low  German  branch  of  the  Teutonic  race.  Those 
living  in  Jutland  were  called  Jutes ;  in  Schleswig  and 
Holstein  were  the  Angles ;  about  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe 
were  the  Saxons.  All  these  took  part  in  the  conquest  of 
Britain,  and  probably  there  were  Jutes  and  Angles  among 
the  bands  that  laid  waste  the  eastern  coast  at  this  time, 


28 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  English 
Conquest. 


The  coming  of 
the  Jutes. 


though  the  records  speak  only  of  the  Saxons.  To  meet  this 
danger  a  line  of  forts  was  built  stretching  south  from  the 
Wash  to  Southampton  Water,  and  a  special  officer,  the 
Count  of  the  Saxon  shore,  was  appointed  to  take  charge 
of  the  defenses  of  the  coast.  But  resistance  was  vain. 
The  raids  of  the  Saxon  pirates  were  but  part  of  a  great 
westward  movement  of  the  Teutons  in  the  fourth  century. 
For  centuries  Rome  had  waged  an  unequal  contest  with 
the  barbarians ;  now  her  foes  closed  in  on  her  from  all 
sides.  The  protection  of  Britain  was  impossible,  and  in 
410  the  Emperor  Honorius  withdrew  the  Roman  troops  and 
bade  the  Britons  sore-beset  look  to  their  own  defense. 

THE  TEUTONIC  INVASIONS. 

For  the  next  forty  years  the  Britons  carried  on  single- 
handed  a  desperate  struggle  with  the  Picts  and  Scots  on 
the  north  and  the  Saxon  pirates  on  the  east.  In  an  appeal 
to  Rome  for  aid  they  wrote  :  "  The  barbarians  drive  us  to 
the  sea  ;  the  sea  drives  us  back  to  the  barbarians  ;  between 
them  we  are  exposed  to  two  sorts  of  death  ;  we  are  either 
slain  or  drowned."  Contact  with  the  Romans  had  not 
increased  the  power  of  the  Britons  to  resist  their  foes. 
Tribal  differences  to  be  sure  had  disappeared,  but  the  people 
had  not  become  a  nation.  Moreover,  they  had  lost  the 
habit  of  self-government  and  of  self-defense  under  the 
paternal  rule  of  Rome.  Yet  they  resisted  long  and 
stubbornly.  Finally  in  449  Vortigern,  the  ruler  of  the 
British,  following  the  example  of  Rome,  tried  to  play 
off  one  foe  against  another.  He  used  with  success  the 
help  of  a  band  of  Jutish  pirates  against  the  Picts,  but  he 
then  found  that  he  could  not  so  easily  get  rid  of  his  new 
allies.  They  established  themselves  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet 
and  within  a  few  years  had  overrun  the  whole  of  the 
adjoining  mainland  as  far  as  Romney  Marsh,  in  Kent. 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation.  29 

The  Jutes  were  soon  followed  by  other  bands  of  sea  The  Saxons  and 
rovers.    Saxons  from  the  Elbe  landed  to  the  west  and  Ansles 
starved  out  the  strong  fortress  of  Anderida.    Still  others 
north  of  the  Thames  forced  their  way  inland  until  brought 
to  a  halt  by  the  marshes  of  the  Lea  and  the   fortress 
of  London.    Another  band  of  the  same  great  people  land- 
ing at  Southampton  pushed  through  the  forest  belt,  but  Welsh  i^ends 
they  were  met  and  defeated  by  the  Britons  at  Mt.  Badon  gj*^^™^11 
in  520.    While  the  Saxon  was  thus  conquering  the  south-  ROUJ^®  thls 
ern  coast,  men  of  another  race,  the  Angles,  coming  like  period, 
the  Saxons  in  small,  independent  bands,  were  seizing  the 
land  along  the  eastern  shore  from  Essex,  the  northern- 
most Saxon  settlement,  as  far  as  the  Roman  wall,  and  by 
the  early  part  of  the  sixth  century  the  whole  coast  from 
the  Tyne  to  Southampton  Water  was  held  by  the  Teuton 
invaders.    As  yet,  however,  their  settlements  were  a  mere 
fringe  along  the  shore,  and  for  almost  fifty  years  longer 
they  were  held  at  bay  by  the  desperate  resistance  of  the 
Britons,  aided  by  the  Roman  fortresses  and  the  natural 
defenses  of  forest  and  fen. 

About  the  middle  of  the  century  there  was  an  advance 
all  along  the  line.  Although  the  Anglians  south  of  the 
Wash  were  still  checked  by  the  Great  Fen,  others  making 
their  way  up  the  rivers  settled  along  the  Trent.  These  are 
known  as  Mercians,  or  men  of  the  mark,  for  their  settle- 
ment formed  a  kind  of  borderland  between  Britons  and 
Teutons.  The  records  are  silent  as  to  how  it  was  done, 
but  sometime  before  the  close  of  the  century  the  great 
northern  province  was  conquered  by  other  Angles  who 
established  the  two  strong  kingdoms  of  Bernicia  and 
Deira,  together  known  as  Northumberland.  In  the  south, 
the  Saxons  pressed  forward  into  the  interior  taking  London 
and  occupying  the  valleys  of  the  Thames  and  the  Severn. 
Finally,  in  577  the  Saxons  of  the  west  met  the  Britons  at 


30  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

Deorham  and  won  a  victory  which  broke  the  backbone  of 
British  resistance. 

Britain  Step  by  step  the  invader  had  advanced  and  by  the  begin- 

Kngiand.  ning  of  the  seventh  century  the  work  of  conquest  was 

practically  done.  The  Celts  still  held  their  own  in  the 
remoter  parts  of  the  island,  in  the  north,  in  Strathclyde 
and  Cumberland,  in  Wales  and  Cornwall,  but  the  richest, 
the  most  fertile  portion  of  Britain  had  become  Teuton  and 
pagan.  For  the  conquest  of  Britain  was  unlike  all  other 
Teutonic  conquests.  Elsewhere  the  conquerors  gradually 
adopted  the  language,  the  religion,  the  customs  of  the  con- 
quered. But  in  Britain  the  invaders  held  to  their  old 
gods,  and  everywhere  they  settled  the  English  language 
and  the  English  customs  prevailed. 

The  reasons  for  the  difference  are  not  far  to  seek.  On  the 
Continent  the  Teutons  came  as  a  united  host  under  one 
leader,  here  they  came  in  small,  independent  bands.  On 
the  Continent  the  natives,  weakened  by  Roman  rule,  made 
only  a  feeble  stand,  but  in  the  end  con- 
quered their  conquerors  through  superior 
civilization.  The  half-civilized  Celts  of 
Britain,  less  completely  Romanized  and 
aided  by  their  natural  defenses,  resisted 
long  and  stubbornly.  The  land  was  won 
from  them  only  by  dint  of  hard  fighting 
and  it  took  almost  one  hundred  and  fifty 

years  to  complete  the  conquest.    As  a  re- 
Saxon  Warrior. 

suit  of  the  long  fierce  struggle,  a  large 

part  of  the  native  population  was  exterminated,  and  all 
traces  of  Roman  civilization  being  swept  away,  the  land 
lay  bare  for  the  planting  of  a  new  nation  with  its  own 
speech,  its  own  customs,  its  own  institutions. 

The  Heptarchy.       The  contest  between  the  Teuton  and  the  Celt  for  posses- 
sion of  Britain  had  come  to  an  end  ;  only  on  the  western 


Boundary  of  th«  English  roueulont 
ihuwu  thu«  — — -— -— ^.— —  — 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation.  31 

border  did  the  war  linger  on  for  a  time  longer.  Peace,  how- 
ever, was  not  gained.  Secure  from  the  Britons,  the  in- 
vaders now  turned  their  arms  against  one  another,  and  the 
history  of  the  next  two  centuries  is  rilled  with  their  strife. 
Of  the  many  independent  Teutonic  settlements,  seven 
have  a  fairly  continuous  history.  Three  of  these,  North- 
umberland, Mercia,  and  Wessex,  having  conquered  their 
weaker  neighbors,  waged  war  for  supremacy  in  England. 
Northumberland  under  Edwin  was  the  first  to  rise  to 
power,  and  early  in  the  seventh  century  succeeded  in  con- 
quering all  the  rest  of  England  except  Kent,  but  it  was  too 
weak  to  maintain  its  hold.  Mercia  revolted  and  under 
Penda  rose  rapidly  to  the  foremost  place.  But  the  fall  of 
Mercia  was  as  rapid  as  its  rise ;  it  was  too  exposed,  too 
divided  internally  to  hope  to  unite  England  permanently 
under  its  rule.  That  it  achieved  what  it  did  was  due 
mainly  to  its  great  kings,  Penda  and  Offa. 
In  the  eighth  century  Wessex  contested  the 
supremacy  of  the  south  with  Mercia,  while 
Northumberland  stood  somewhat  aloof.  For 
a  time  Mercia  was  successful  and  conquered 
Essex,  Kent,  and  East  Anglia,  but  early  in 
the  ninth  century  the  tide  changed,  and  by 
829  the  West  Saxons  under  Egbert  were 
masters  of  the  whole  country.  The  king- 
doms of  the  south  were  directly  under  the 
rule  of  Wessex,  while  Mercia,  East  Anglia, 
and  Northumberland  retained  their  own 
kings ;  but  all  alike  owned  the  overlordship  Anglo-Saxon 
of  Egbert,  and  for  the  moment  there  was  a  Man-at-arms, 
united  England.  In  looking  back  over  these  years  of  in- 
ternecine war,  it  seems  a  period  of  much  confusion,  of 
apparently  meaningless  strife,  well  characterized  by  Milton 
as  the  "battle  of  kites  and  crows."  The  scanty  records 


32 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Customs  and 
institutions. 


Woden 
Thor. 

Freyja. 


,  however,  that  it  was  also  a  time  of  social  and  political 
growth,  and  that  underneath  all  the  turmoil  and  disorder 
the  English  nation  was  being  formed. 

THE    ANGLO-SAXONS. 

The  bands  of  warriors  that  conquered  Britain  were  but 
the  forerunners  of  the  migration  of  a  people.  Wives,  chil- 
dren, slaves,  cattle  even,  were  brought  across  the  water, 
and  in  their  island  home  the  Teutonic  conquerors  repro- 
duced the  life  they  were  wont  to  lead  on  the  banks  of  the 
Elbe.  They  held  to  the  old  speech,  the  old  faith,  the  old 
laws,  the  old  customs  and  institutions,  and  Britain  be- 
came England,  the  land  of  the  Angles. 

The  three  tribes  that  took  part  in  the  conquest  were 
much  alike.  They  were  heathen,  worshiping  many  gods, 
some  of  whose  names  have  come  down  to  us  in  the  days  of 
the  week.  Their  chief  delight  was  in  war,  and  they  were 
equally  at  home  on  land  and  on  sea.  There  were  two 
classes  among  them,  the  earls  or  noblemen,  and  the  simple 
freemen.  Besides  these  Were  the  people  conquered  in  war 
and  reduced  to  slavery,  who  did  much  of  the  work  of  till- 
ing the  soil.  After  the  conquest  there  was  a  great  increase 
in  the  number  of  the  unfree,  both  English  and  Britons. 
The  leaders  were  called  ealdormen  and  were  marked  out 
from  the  rest  by  their  wealth  or  their  greater  wisdom  or 
prowess.  Around  each  earl  gathered  his  war  band.  These 
comrades  or  gesiths,  as  they  were  called,  were  young  men 
whose  business  in  life  was  war.  They  lived  with  their 
chosen  leader  and  followed  him  wherever  he  went,  esteem- 
ing it  their  greatest  glory  to  give  their  li ves  for  him.  They 
probably  bore  the  brunt  of  the  attack  on  Britain,  and  after 
the  conquest  we  find  a  change  in  their  position.  They  no 
longer  lived  in  the  house  of  their  leader,  but  had  lands  of 
their  own  and  were  called  "thegns." 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation.  33 

The  life  of  the  Teutons  centered  in  the  village.  Here 
families  united  by  the  tie  of  kinship  lived  together,  and 
each  "ham"  or  "tun"  bore  the  name  of  the  kin  that 
dwelt  in  it.  Thus  the  town  of  the  Irvings  was  Irvington. 
Each  village  lay  isolated  by  a  border  of  waste  or  woodland 
called  the  mark,  a  name  often  applied  to  the  village  itself. 
Every  freeman  had  his  own  house  and  strip  of  plowland, 
but  the  woodland  and  pasture-land  surrounding  the  village 
were  used  in  common.  It  is  a  still  unsettled  question 
whether  the  village  lands  were  owned  by  the  freemen 
or  whether  they  belonged  to  some  lord  to 
whom  the  cultivators  paid  service  in  re- 
turn for  the  use  of  the  land.  Each  village, 
whether  dependent  or  free,  had  its  town- 
moot.  Here  the  freemen  met  together 
under  a  reeve  or  headman  and  settled  the 
petty  disputes  of  the  neighborhood,  just 
as  do  the  peasants  of  the  Russian  village 
community  to-day.  Superior  to  the  town- 
moot  was  the  hundred-moot,  the  court  Gesith. 
of  a  district  settled  originally  perhaps  by  a  hundred  fam- 
ilies of  the  same  kin.  Here  the  reeve  and  four  best  men 
from  each  village  within  the  hundred  met  together  to  dis- 
cuss questions  arising  between  township  and  township, 
and  to  give  judgment  in  cases  of  grave  offense  and  crime. 

Among  the  Teutons  as  among  other  primitive  peoples,   justice, 
justice  and  order  were  at  first  associated  with  the  idea  of 

the  family.     Each  kinsman  was  his  kinsman's   keeper, 

'    In  the  tenth 

bound  to  avenge  his  wrongs,  to  suffer  for  his  misdeeds.   £®nt"ry a   . 

king's  blood- 

"Life  for  life"  and  "eye  for  eye"  ran  the  hard  code  of  money  was 

about  four 
the  day.    It  was  a  great  step  in  advance  when  compensa-  times  that  of 

an  ealdorman, 
tion  for  wrong  done  might  be  made  at  a  fixed  price,  and  and  more  than 

one  hundred 
when  the  injured  man  no  longer  took  vengeance  into  his  times  that  of 

an  ordinary 
own  hand,  but  brought  his  complaint  before  his  neighbors  freeman. 


34 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


in  town  or  hundred-moot.  Yet  there  was  nothing  like 
the  trial  of  to-day.  If  the  accused  denied  the  charge  he 
was  bound  to  summon  twelve  men  of  the  neighborhood, 
compurgators,  who  would  swear  to  the  worth  of  his  oath. 
When  none  would  do  this,  he  might  appeal  to  the  ordeal  or 
judgment  of  the  gods,  and  if  he  could  stand  the  test  of 
walking  on  hot  plowshares  or  of  plunging  his  arm  into 
boiling  water,  he  was  held  innocent  of  the  charge  against 
him.  Probably  but  few  stood  the  ordeal,  and  thus  practi- 
cally judgment  depended  upon  the  good  or  bad  repute  of  a 
man  among  his  neighbors. 

The  Tribe.  Twice  a  year  the  men  of  the  tribe  came  together  in  a 

great  folk-moot.  Here  justice  was  done  between  hundred 
and  hundred,  and  important  matters,  such  as  peace  and 
war,  were  discussed,  and  the  leader  of  the  host  was  chosen. 
One  of  the  ealdormen  presided 
over  the  moot,  the  wise  men  of 
the  tribe  spoke,  and  the  freemen 
standing  about  shouted  "Aye" 
or  "  Nay  "  to  what  was  proposed, 
or  shook  their  spears  and  clashed 
their  shields  by  way  of  applause. 
They  came  prepared  to  fight  as 
well  as  to  take  counsel.  Each 
man  had  his  place  in  the  national 
force,  and  just  as  the  folk-moot 
was  the  people  in  council  so  the 
host  was  the  people  in  arms. 
H  Kingship  among  these  people 
was  perhaps  a  result  of  the  con- 
quest. At  least  we  find  no  earlier 

traces  of  it,  and  within  a  short  time  after  their  coming  each 
settlement  had  its  king.  The  long,  fierce  resistance  of  the 
Britons  forced  the  invaders  to  unite  under  some  chief  to 


Saxon  Archer. 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation.  35 

whom  all  could  look,  and  to  make  him  something  more 
than  a  temporary  leader.  The  choice  usually  fell  on  the 
best  man  of  the  royal  line,  but  he  was  still  the  freely 
elected  leader,  bound  by  the  advice  of  his  wise  men  and 
the  customs  of  the  people. 

The  seventh  century  was  marked  by  an  event  only  less  The  conversion 
important  than  the  conquest  itself,  the  conversion  of  the 
English    to   Christianity. 
The  defeat  of  the  Britons 
by  the  Teutons  meant  the 
triumph   of  the   faith   of 
Woden  over  the  faith  of 
Christ.    The  Teutons  were 
not    intolerant,    however, 
and  when  in  597  Roman 
missionaries      landed     in 
Thauet,  they  met  with  a 
patient  hearing  from  Eth-    __ 
elbert,   the   Kentish  king,  ae* 
and  he  allowed  no  one  to  r~_ 

molest  them,  although  he 

St.  Augustin,  Archbishop  of 
refused  to  accept  the  new  Canterbury. 

faith,  saying,  "Your  words  are  fair,  but  they  are  of  new 
and  doubtful  meaning."  Within  a  few  years,  however, 
both  king  and  people  accepted  the  new  religion.  The  royal 
city  of  Canterbury  became  the  center  of  English  Chris- 
tianity, and  Augustine,  leader  of  the  missionary  baud, 
the  first  English  archbishop.  The  time  was  favorable  to 
the  spread  of  the  new  teaching,  for  under  Ethelbert,  Kent 
had  established  a  kind  of  over-lordship  over  the  surround- 
ing tribes  and  they  accepted  the  faith  of  their  new  rulers. 

The  supremacy  of  Kent  ended  with  the  death  of  Ethel- 
bert, and  many  of  the  surrounding  states  in  regaining  their 
independence  fell  away  from  the  new  religion,  but  Chris- 


36 


The  Oroivth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Baeda's 

Ecclesiastical 

History. 


PaganJsm. 


tianity  had  already  begun  to  make  its  way  in  the  north 
through  the  marriage  of  a  Kentish  princess  with  Edwin 
the  great  Northumbrian  king.  Moved  by  the  entreaties  of 
his  wife  and  the  preaching  of  the  chaplain  Paulinus,  Edwin 
promised  to  renounce  the  faith  of  Woden  if  he  were  suc- 
cessful in  war.  Returning  home  victorious,  he  called  upon 
his  people  to  accept  Christianity.  His  wise  men  were 
nothing  loath.  "So  runs  the  life  of  man,"  said  one,  "as 
a  sparrow's  flight  through  the  hall  when  a  man  is  sitting 
at  meat  in  winter-tide  with  the  warm  fire  lighted  on  the 
hearth  but  the  chill  rain-storm  without.  The  sparrow  flies 
in  at  one  door  and  tarries  for  a  moment  in  the  light  and 
heat  of  the  hearth-fire,  and  then  flying  forth  from  the  other 
vanishes  into  the  wintry  darkness  from  whence  it  came. 
So  tarries  for  a  moment  the  life  of  man  in  our  sight,  but 
what  is  before  it,  what  after  it,  we  know  not.  If  this 
new  teaching  tell  us  aught  certainly  of  these,  let  us  follow 
it."  In  this  spirit  the  Northumbrian  leaders  accepted  the 
new  faith,  and  the  unthinking  crowd  followed  their  ex- 
ample with  easy  indifference  ;  the  old  gods  had  not  served 
them  well,  the  new  could  at  least  do  no  worse. 

But  the  victory  was  not  yet  won.  Penda,  king  of 
Mercia,  came  forward  as  a  defender  of  paganism.  He 
rallied  the  people  of  the  south  around  him  in  a  contest 
which  was  as  much  for  political  freedom  as  for  the  ances- 
tral gods.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  struggle  raged. 
Kingdom  after  kingdom  was  torn  from  the  grasp  of  North- 
umberland. For  a  time  Penda  stood  supreme  in  England 
and  the  old  gods  were  restored.  But  at  last,  in  655,  the  great 
king  was  defeated  and  slain  by  Oswiu,  the  Northumbrian 
ruler,  at  the  river  Winwaed  near  the  present  Leeds.  With 
Penda  ended  the  contest  between  Christianity  and  heathen- 
ism. The  Mercians  accepted  the  religion  of  the  conquerors, 
Wessex  quietly  became  Christian  again,  and  finally  the 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation.  37 

South  Saxons,  the  last  to  yield,  renounced  the  faith  of 
Woden  and  Thor. 

One  more  danger  was  to  be  met.     During   the  fierce  „ 

Synod  of 

struggle  with  Penda,  Northumberland,  cut  off  from  Rome,  wh*tt>y- 
had  come  under  the  influence  of  the  Irish  .Church.  At  the 
call  of  the  king,  missionaries  from  the  famous  monastery  of 
Columba  in  lona  had  come  into  the  country  to  complete 
the  work  of  Paulinus.  Led  by  Aidan,  who  founded  the 
monastery  of  Lindisfarne,  they  wandered  forth  among  the 
hills  and  dales  of  Northumberland,  winning  the  rough 
peasantry  to  the  faith  of  Christ.  For  the  moment  it 
seemed  as  though  the  north  would  be  won  by  the  Irish 
Church  and  the  separation  from  Rome  would  be  perma- 
nent. Fortunately,  in  the  great  synod  held  at  Whitby 
in  664,  to  decide  the  ecclesiastical  allegiance  of  Northum- 
berland, the  voice  of  Oswiu  the  king  was  in  favor  of  Rome. 
The  points  of  difference  were  slight,  but  had  England  held 
to  the  Irish  Church  she  would  have  been  spiritually 
isolated,  cut  off  from  all  the  civilization  that  centered  at 
Rome. 

The  century  that  followed  was  the  golden  age  of  the 
early  English  Church.  Its  wealth  and  influence  grew  Church, 
steadily.  It  was  organized  into  bishoprics  and  parishes 
corresponding  roughly  with  the  subkingdoms  and  town- 
ships. Throughout  the  north  and  on  the  eastern  coast  rose 
stately  abbeys  and  monasteries,  the  homes  of  learning  as 
well  as  religion.  Baeda,  "  the  venerable  Bede."  greatest  of  67S-735 

early  English  scholars,  and   first  of  English  historians,   "Ecclesiastical 

History  of 

was  a  monk  of  Jarrow  on  the  Tyne,  and  it  was  at  Whitby  the  English 

Nation." 

that  Caedmon,  the  inspired  cowherd,  first  learned  the  gift  of 

song.  While  the  monasteries  became  the  centers  of  intel- 
lectual life,  bishops  took  their  place  in  the  councils  of  the 
king,  and  parish  priests  moving  among  the  people  set  the 
example  of  purer,  gentler  living.  But  it  was  not  simply 


38 


The  Groivth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Coming  of  the 
Northmen. 


through  its  direct  teachings  or  through  the  closer  connec- 
tion with  the  civilization  of  the  Continent  brought  about 
by  its  influence,  that  the  Church  became  a  force  in  the 
growth  of  the  English  nation.  It  was  the  organization  of 
the  Church  that  furnished  the  model  for  organization  of  the 
State.  A  united  Church  under  one  head,  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  prepared  men  for  a  united  State  under  one 
king.  Ecclesiastical  unity  was  the  forerunner  of  national 
unity. 

ENGLAND  AND  THE  DANES. 

The  union  of  England  under  Egbert  might  have  passed 
away  as  did  that  established  by  Penda  had  it  not  been  for  a 
common  danger  that  bound  together  the  warring  states  in 


Saxon  Hawking.    Ninth  Century. 

the  ninth  century ;  the  completion  of  Egbert's  work  was 
the  unwitting  achievement  of  the  Northmen. 

It  is  like  reading  the  history  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  invasion 
over  again  to  read  of  the  coming  of  the  Danes.  They  were 
Scandinavians  and  closely  akin  to  the  Angles  and  Saxons. 
Their  faith  jvas  the  faith  of  Woden,  the  sea  was  their 
home,  and  their  delight  was  in  war  and  plunder.  Sweep- 
ing down  from  the  north  they  ravaged  the  eastern  coast 
of  England,  sacking  the  towns  and  plundering  the  rich 
monasteries  of  the  fen  country.  Their  object  at  first  was 
booty,  but  by  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century  the  character 
of  the  attack  changed,  they  came  no  longer  simply  to 
plunder  but  to  conquer  and  settle.  Within  a  few  years  the 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation. 


39 


work  of  Egbert  was  undone,  only  the  lands  south  of  the 
Thames  remained  subject  to  the  Saxon  king,  and  in  871  the 
turn  of  the  West  Saxons  came.  The  task  of  saving  Wessex, 
and  with  it  England  and  the  national  faith,  fell  upon 
Alfred,  the  young  king.  For  seven  years  he  waged  a  des- 
perate struggle  against  the  Danes.  In  878  all  seemed  lost. 
Wessex  was  overrun,  and  Alfred  with  a  few  followers  took 
refuge  in  the  Isle  of  Athelney  among  the  marshes  of  the 
Parret.  But  with  the  spring  he  came  forth,  and  calling 
out  the  men  of  Somerset  and  Wilts,  he  won  a  complete 
victory  over  the  Danes  at  Ethandun,  and  wrung  from 
them  the  Treaty  of  Wedmore.  By  this  they  bound  them- 
selves to  resign  to  Alfred  the  lands  south  of  Watling  Street. 
The  north  and  east  they  kept,  and  it  was  henceforth 
known  as  the  Danelaw,  or  land  of  the  Danish  law. 

For  the  moment  it  seemed  as  though  all  hope  of  a  united 
England  was  gone,  for  Alfred  had  lost  more  than  half  the  87i-9°i. 
territory  held  by  his  grandfather  Egbert.  But  within 
what  was  left,  his  rule  was  far  more  real  and  substantial. 
He  at  once  turned  his  attention  to  the  upbuilding  of  his 
realm.  He  strengthened  the  defenses  by  creating  a  fleet, 


Swine  Hunting.    Ninth  Century. 

the  first  English  navy,  and  by  reorganizing  the  fyrd,  one 
half  the  men  of  each  shire  to  be  always  ready  for  war. 
With  the  aid  of  his  wise  men  the  laws  were  codified  and 
amended,  and  the  courts  of  justice  were  revived.  His  ef- 


40 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Conquest  of  the 
Danelaw. 


forts  for  the  well-being  of  his  realm  did  not  end  here.  The 
long  wars  had  resulted  in  the  moral  and  intellectual  degra- 
dation of  the  people,  the  Church  was  demoralized,  learn- 
ing had  disappeared.  "When  I  began  to 
reign,"  said  Alfred,  "  I  cannot  remember  one 
priest  south  of  the  Thames  who  could  render 
his  service-book  into  English."  To  remedy 
these  evils  he  rebuilt  and  founded  churches  and 
schools,  and  brought  priests  and  teachers  from 
the  Continent.  To  meet  the  need  of  books 
in  the  English  language,  he  himself  trans- 
lated and  explained  the  works  of  Orosius, 
A  Noble  Sax-  „ 
on  Youth.  Boethius,  and  Baeda.  It  is  to  his  desire  that 

his  subjects  should  know  their  own  past  that  we  owe 
the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  the  earliest  history  possessed 
by  any  Teutonic  people  in  its  own  tongue.  Everywhere  he 
strove  with  untiring  zeal  and  true  wisdom  to  further  the 
national  welfare.  "A  hero  of  romance, 
but  to  whose  character  romance  has  done 
no  more  than  justice,"  excelling  as  war- 
rior, as  ruler,  as  scholar,  Alfred  stands 
out  as  perhaps  the  most  perfect  character 
in  history. 

Alfred's  task  was  to  reorganize  and  con- 
solidate the  lands  south  of  Watling  Street. 
To  extend  the  rule  of  Wessex  into  the 
north,  where  the  Danes  had  established 
several  independent  states,  was  the  work 
of  his  son  and  grandsons.    Step  by  step 
they  reconquered  the  country,  bringing 
Mercia  and   Northumbria   under    their        Kins  Edgar, 
direct  rule,  reducing  the  Celts  of  Wales  and  Strathclyde 
to  submission,  and  obliging  the  Scots  to  render  them  some 
kind  of  allegiance.    When  Edgar  ascended  the  throne  in 


THE 


ENGLISH  EMPIRE 

ry  THIS 

TENTH  &  ELEVENTH  CENTURIES 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation.  41 

959,  he  had  only  to  hold  what  those  before  him  had  won 
by  dint  of  hard  fighting,  and  he  spent  his  peaceful  reign  in 
organizing  his  kingdom  and  reforming  the  Church.  He 
had  an  able  coadjutor  in  Dunstan,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, the  first  of  England's  long  line  of  ecclesiastical  states- 
men. 

The  wrork  of  reconquest  was  done  ;  the  Dane  had  accepted  England  in  the 
rule  of  the  Saxon,  and  the  fusion  of  races  already  begun   tenth  century- 
was  soon  complete.    But  the  effect  of  the  fierce  struggle 
wras  plain  in  state  and  society  long  after  the  two  peoples 
had  become  one.    The  old 
provincial  jealousies  had 
disappeared    before    the 
Dane.    Common   danger 
welded    the    people    to- 
gether, common  interest 
replaced  the  union  of  the 

sword.      The  new  union  st-  Dunstan. 

was  symbolized  in  the  king.  The  strengthening  of  his 
authority  was  a  natural  result  of  the  war.  To  him  men 
had  looked  in  their  need,  their  safety  was  his  merit.  His 
thegns  leading  their  dependents  to  battle  had  borne  the 
brunt  of  the  fight  far  more  than  the  unwieldy  national 
force.  With  enlarged  domains  his  power  grew.  From  afar 
men  looked  with  increased  awe  on  the  Lord's  Anointed, 
the  ruler  of  kings.  But  the  power  of  the  king  was  still 
personal,  still  dependent  upon  himself.  If  the  king  was 
strong,  the  crown  was  strong,  but  if  he  was  weak,  the  old 
provincial  jealousies  strengthened  by  new  tendencies  toward 
separation  at  once  showed  themselves. 

The  long  strife  had  left  its  mark  on  the  churl  as  well 
as  on  the  king.  To  protect  himself  against  the  Dane  he  be- 
came the  dependent  of  some  lord  who  gave  him  aid.  He 
followed  his  lord  to  battle,  tilled  his  fields,  and  sought 


42 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Witenayemot — 
meeting  of 
wise  men  ;  an 
assembly  com- 
posed of  the 
bishops  and 
greater  thegns. 


justice  in  his  courts.  He  ceased  to  be  free,  but  yet  he  was 
not  a  slave.  He  could  not  leave  the  land,  but  011  the  other 
hand  he  could  not  be  sold  from  the  laud,  nor  could  it  be 
taken  from  him.  He  had  also  lost  whatever  political  in- 
fluence he  may  have  had,  for  the  folk- 
moot  had  either  disappeared  altogether, 
or  had  become  a  mere  local  court,  the 
shire-moot. 

This  same  drift  toward  dependence, 
toward  feudal  subordination,  showed  it- 
self throughout  society.  Just  as  the 
freeman  bound  himself  to  his  lord,  so  his 
lord  in  turn  attached  himself  to  some 
greater  thegn,  or  to  one  of  the  ealdor- 
men who  ruled  the  subject  kingdoms. 
Here  lay  the  great  danger  to  the  new 
union.  These  ealdormen  were  like  petty 
kings  in  their  own  districts.  Athelstan 
of  East  Anglia  was  so  powerful  that  he 
was  called  the  Half-King.  They  re- 
sented royal  interference,  and  under  a 
weak  ruler  each  went  his  way,  looking 
rather  to  his  own  interest  than  to  the 
interest  of  the  whole  people.  They  formed 
also  the  strongest  element  in  the  Wit- 
enagemot  which  had  replaced  the  folk" 
moots  of  the  subkingdoms,  and  which 
now  elected  the  king  and  made  the  laws 
and  granted  land.  Unless  the  king  was 
a  strong  man  he  was  a  mere  tool  in 
their  hands.  This  struggle  between  the 
English  king  and  his  ealdormen  was  but 
a  part  of  the  great  contest  of  the  century  between  mon- 
archy and  feudalism.  In  France  and  on  the  Continent 


Anglo-Saxon  Glee- 
man.    Tenth 
Century. 


A  Princess  of  East 
Anglia. 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation.  43 

generally,  feudalism  had  triumphed  ;  it  was  only  in  Eng- 
land that  the  crown  still  held  its  own.  But  however  the 
issue  might  turn,  the  basis  of  English  society  was  changed, 
the  bulk  of  the  population  consisted  no  longer  of  freemen 
owning  the  land,  holding  their  own  courts,  forming  the 
backbone  of  the  national  forces,  but  of  serfs  bound  to  the 
soil,  tilling  the  land  of  another,  and  doing  his  work. 

The  tenth  century  was  for  England  a  brief  breathing  Danish  Con- 
space  between  the  first  and  second  com-         |2^ 
ing  of  the  Danes.    While  the  descendants 
of  Alfred  were  gradually  bringing  under 
their   rule  the  lands   north  of  Watling 
Street,    the    Northmen    were    spending 
their  energies  in  making    conquests   on 

the  Continent.    Toward  the  close  of  the 

,    Anglo-Saxon  Har- 
century  they  appeared  again  on  the  coast       per  and  Hop- 

of  England,  coming  not  in  small  maraud-     Tenth  Century, 
ing  bands,  but  as  a  national  host  prepared  to  conquer  and 
to  hold. 

The  throne  of  England  was  occupied  at  this  time  by  Etheiredn., 
Edgar's  son  Ethelred,  the  only  one  of  the  West-Saxon  line  979"1 
lacking  in  every  kingly  quality.  "Kedeless"  his  genera- 
tion called  him  because  of  his  unwillingness  to  take 
"  rede,"  or  counsel.  Not  content  with  his  father's  position 
he  purposed  to  make  his  rule  real  and  direct  over  all 
England,  but  he  showed  neither  force  nor  judgment  in  his 
attempts  to  carry  out  his  policy.  The  years  of  Ethelred's 
reign  were  shameful  and  miserable.  On  every  side  was 
incapacity,  treachery.  The  king  feared  his  subjects  more 
than  the  Danes,  the  ealdormen  thought  only  of  their  own 

interests,  leader  of  the  people  there  was  none.    "And  forces 

.,  ,  ,,  ,  Anglo-Saxon 

were  often  gathered  against  the  Danes,  but  as  soon  as  they  chronicle. 

should  have  joined  battle,  then  was  there  ever  through 
some  cause  flight  begun."  "  And  when  they  went  to  their 


44 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Cnut,  1016-1035. 


ships,  then  ought  the  fyrd  to  have  gone  out  against  them 
until  they  should  land  ;  but  then  the  fyrd  went  home  ;  and 
when  they  went  eastward,  then  was  the  fyrd  kept  west- 
ward. Then  all  the  Witan  were  bidden  to  the  king  that 
they  might  counsel  how  this  land  should  be  guarded. 
But  though  they  counseled  something,  it  did  not  stand 
even  one  month.  -  And  next,  there  was  no  man  that  would 
gather  the  fyrd,  but  each  fled  as  he  best  might ;  and  next, 
no  shire  would  even  help  another." 

That  Englishmen  could  still  fight  when  well  led  was 
proved,  however,  by  the  success  of  Edmund  Ironsides  who 
succeeded  his  father  Ethelred  in 
1016.  In  seven  months  he  fought 
six  battles  and  in  four  the  Danes 
were  defeated  ;  but  death  cut  short 
his  career,  leaving  Cnut,  the  young 
Danish  king,  without  a  rival.  The 
English  quietly  accepted  him  as 
ruler,  and  once  upon  the  throne  he 
spared  no  effort  to  efface  the  mem- 
ory of  the  way  in  which  he  had 
gained  it.  He  strove  to  rule  as  an 
English  king,  putting  Englishmen 
in  high  office  and  reestablishing  the 
law  of  Edgar.  He  sent  home  his 
Danish  army  retaining  simply  his 
house-carls,  a  small  standing  force, 
but  he  disarmed  the  ealdormen  by 
placing  over  the  four  larger  king- 
doms men  whom  he  could  trust. 
The  greatest  of  these  earls,  as  they  were  called,  was  an 
Englishman,  Godwin  of  Wessex,  henceforth  the  chosen 
minister  of  the  king.  Cnut  gave  to  England  peace 
and  good  order,  but  there  was  nothing  permanent  in 


Anglo-Saxon  Men-at- 
arms. 


Race  Elements  of  the  English  Nation.  45 

his  work  and  with  his  death  his  empire  fell  to  pieces. 
For  some  years  his  sons  reigned  in  England,  but  their 
rule  was  one  of  bloodshed  and  violence,  and  when  in 
1042  the  Danish  line  came  to  an  unworthy  end  men  turned 
with  longing  to  the  son  of  Ethelred  living  in  exile 

at  the  Norman   court,  and    "all  folk  chose  Edward  to 

Edward  the 

king."     But  it  was  as  a  Norman  rather  than  as  an  English-   Confessor. 

1042-1066. 

man  that  Edward  came  back,  and  under  him  far  more 


dmt  and  his  Queen. 

than  during  Cnut's  reign  did  England  learn  the  meaning 
of  foreign  rule.  His  piety  and  gentleness  won  for  him  the 
name  of  "  Confessor,"  and  in  after  years  men  recalled 
with  longing  the  "good  laws  of  Edward";  but  he  was 
more  monk  than  king,  and  the  real  rulers  of  England 
during  this  reign  were  Godwin  of  Wessex  and  his  greater 
son  Harold.  It  was  a  time  of  division  and  discord,  local 
jealousies  broke  forth  again,  the  great  earls  strove  with 


46 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


each  other,  the  two  parties,  national  and  foreign,  which 
divided  the  court  appeared  also  in  the  Church.  So  long  as 
Edward  lived  outward  peace  was  maintained,  but  his 
death  gave  the  signal  for  a  struggle  over  the  succession 
which  laid  bare  all  the  elements  of  weakness  in  the  nation. 


Seal  of  Edward  the  Confessor. 


CHAPTER  III. 
NORMAN  ENGLAND. 

Illustrative  Readings.  Important  Dates. 

The  Normans  in  Europe;  John-     ^ign  of  William  I.,  1066-1087. 

1070,  Conquest  complete. 

The  Little  Duke;   Yonge.  }^'  ?°mf  day  Survey. 

Hereward,  the  list  of  the  Eng-       ,  .^f  *"s,bury  °af-  „ 

lish  •  Kinmlev  Reign  of  wllham  Rufus.  1087-1100. 

Harolki  Tendon.  ™-™>>  Normandy   held   in 

Harold,   the  Last  of  the  Saxon          ,    p  ®  „' 

Kings  •  Bulwer  ^^  of  Henry  1"  110°-1135- 

The  White  Ship  ;'Rossetti.  . 1106'  /Jfquest  of  Normandy. 

Reign  of  Stephen,  1135-1154. 

1153,  Treaty  of  Wallingford. 
The  Norman  Line. 

Rollo,  the  Ganger,  912-927  (?). 

William  Longsword,  (927(?)-943. 
Richard  I.,  the  Fearless,  943-996. 


Richard  II.,  the  Good,  996-1026.          Emma  m.  Ethelred,  the  Unready. 
Richard  III.,  1026-1028.    Robert,  1028-1035.    «  Edward  the  Confessor. 

*  William  I.,  1035-1087. 
King  of  England,  1086-1087. 

Robert,  1087-1106.    *  William  II.    *  Henry  I.    Adela  m.  Stephen  of  Blois. 
Duke  of  Normandy.     1087-1100.      1100-1135.  | 


|  *  Stephen.  1135-1154. 

Matilda  m.  Geoffrey  Plantagenet, 


|         Count  of  Anjou. 
"Henry  II.,  1154-1189. 

*Richard,  1189-1199.      *John,  1198-1216. 
*The  English  kings  are  starred. 

THE  CONQUEST. 

As  in  England,  so  on  the  Continent,  the  fierce  persist- 
ence of  the  Norse  invaders  finally  prevailed  against  the 
more  civilized  and  peace-loving  nations  with  whom  they 
strove,  and  they  secured  a  firm  footing  in  France,  in  Sicily, 
and  in  Russia.  In  912,  Charles  the  Simple,  the  degenerate 

47 


48  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

descendant  of  Charlemagne  and  King  of  the  West  Franks, 
granted  to  Hollo  the  Ganger  the  province  lying  along  the 
coast  on  either  side  the  Seine,  called  from  its  new  masters, 
The  Normans  Normandy.  Hollo  thus  became  a  vassal  of  the  Frankish 
king,  but  in  those  turbulent  times  it  was  not  easy  to  assert 
the  rights  of  overlordship,  and  the  Norman  dukes  gave 
little  heed  to  their  nominal  sovereign.  The  land  was  ap- 
portioned to  their  followers  as  booty  of  war,  while  the 
natives,  being  regarded  as  a  conquered  race,  were  reduced 
to  serfdom.  The  Norse  vikings  despised  these  Romanized 
and  degenerate  Franks.  Absorbed  in  hunting  and  feast- 
ing, in  making  war  upon  a  neighboring  lord  to  extend  a 
boundary,  or  upon  the  duke  to  resist  a  claim,  they  con- 
temptuously declined  to  concern  themselves  with  such 
slave's  business  as  agriculture  and  the  arts.  Yet  gradually 
the  superior  civilization  gained  influence  among  them. 
They  married  Frankish  women  ;  they  began  to  speak  the 

Franco-Latin  lan- 
guage, which,  rude 
as  it  was,  ran 
smoother  than 
their  wild  mother 

William  I.  and  two  Normans.  From  the  Bayeux  t^11?116  5  they  en~ 
Tapestry,  illustrating  the  Norman  fashion       tprprl   thp>  * \\-P.in 
of  shaving  the  back  of  the  head. 

spiring  Christian 

churches  and  forgot  the  fierce  gods  of  their  ancestors  ;  they 
came  under  the  sway  of  the  clergy  and  received  at  their 
hands  not  merely  a  purer  religion,  a  higher  morality,  but 
the  conceptions  of  right  and  order  preserved  in  the  Roman 
law,  the  traditions  of  learning  and  civilization  treasured  in 
the  monasteries.  So  it  came  about  that  within  the  150 
years  from  Rollo  the  Ganger  to  William  the  Norman  the 
rude  Norse  pirates  had  become  essentially  Frenchmen. 
Losing  nothing  of  their  old-time  fire  and  vigor,  they  had 


Norman  England.  49 


yet  adopted  the  best  elements  in  the  civilization  of  the 
conquered  race.  In  the  tenth  century,  the  Normans  were 
barbarians  ;  in  the  eleventh,  they  were  the  most  progressive 
people  in  Europe. 

During  this  same  150  years,  the  English,  as  we  have  seen,    contemporary 
were  retrograding.    William  of  Malmesbury,  an  eleventh 


century  chronicler  of  mingled  English  and  Norman  blood,   f§J°n  chron" 

compares  the  character  of  the  Normans  with  that  of  the  Worcester^ 

English  to  the  great  disadvantage  of  the  latter.    He  asserts  Mainfesbury. 

that  the  "  desire  after  literature  and  religion  had  decayed  Aif  quotations 

in  England,"  that  the  English  clergy,  "  contented  with  a 

very  slight  degree  of  learning,  could  hardly  stammer  out 

the  words  of  the  sacraments  ;  and  a  person  who  under- 

stood  grammar  was  an  object  of  wonder  and  astonish- 

ment."   The  nobility  were  given  up  to  luxury  and  de- 

bauch.   Gluttony  and  drunkenness  were  national  vices. 

The  common  people,  unprotected  by  the  degenerate  kings, 

"  became  a  prey  to  the  most  powerful,  who  amassed  for- 

tunes by  either  seizing  on  their  property  or  by  selling  their 

persons  into  foreign  countries."    Yet  the  wealth  so  won 

was  spent  in  wasteful  revel.    "  They  consumed  their  whole 

substance  in  mean  and  despicable  houses  ;  unlike  the  Nor- 

mans and  French  who  in  noble  and  splendid  mansions 

lived  with  frugality."    "The  Normans,"  says  our  chron- 

icler, "  are  proudly  appareled,  delicate  in  their  food,  but 

not  excessive.    They  are  a  race  inured  to  war,  and  can 

hardly   live  without   it  ;   fierce  in   rushing   against   the 

enemy  ;  and,  where  strength  fails  of  success,  ready  to  use 

strategem  or  to  corrupt  by  bribery." 

A  worthy  descendant  of  Hollo  was  William  the  Bastard, 
son  of  Duke  Eobert  and  the  pretty  daughter  of  a  tanner  of 
Falaise.  Flouted  by  his  vassals,  William  had  much  diffi- 
culty in  making  good  his  claim  to  his  father's  duchy,  since 
the  restless  Norman  barons  seized  the  opportunity  to  assert 


50 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


their  independence,  but  the  young  duke  soon  proved 
himself  equal  to  the  situation.  He  not  only  reduced  his 
turbulent  subjects  to  submission,  but  he  added  to  his 
domains  the  county  of  Maine.  The  vigor  and  wisdom 
thus  manifested  won  for  him  the  title  of  "the  Great." 

_.„.     ,    ,  However.  Normandy  and  Maine  together  formed  but  a 

William's  claim 

to  the  English   narrow  realm.    With  the  genius  for  conquest  strong  within 

him,  William  turned  his  eyes  to  England.  On  the  death 
of  Edward  the  Confessor,  the  Witan  had  passed  by  Edgar 
the  Atheling  and  elected  Harold  king.  The  son  of  God- 
win was  hardly  crowned  when  William  protested  the 
validity  of  the  sacred  rite  and  announced  himself  as  the 
true  successor.  The  Norman  duke  brought  forward  a 
triple  claim  to  the  English  crown.  Edward  had  promised 
to  make  William  his  heir ;  Harold,  wrecked  on  the  Nor- 
man coast  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  his  rival,  had 
sworn  on  sacred  relics  to  surrender 
his  rights  to  the  throne  ;  finally  the 
pope,  offended  by  English  disregard 
of  ecclesiastical  law  and  persuaded 
that  William  was  a  faithful  son  of 
the  Church,  had  sanctioned  his 
succession  and  sent  a  consecrated 
banner  to  further  the  invasion  of 
England.  Yet  William's  right,  as 
j  ustified  by  the  event,  was  not  Ed- 
ward's promise,  nor  Harold's  oath, 
nor  yet  the  papal  blessing,  but  the 
ability  to  govern  with  a  strong  hand 

this  kingdom  torn  by  civil  dissension.  Harold  was  brave 
and  patriotic,  but  he  could  never  have  welded  the  warring 
earldoms  into  national  unity.  As  earl  of  Wessex,  he  was 
but  first  of  the  four  great  ealdormen.  His  fellow  earls 
were  jealous  of  his  ascendancy  and  his  own  brother  Tostig 


Harold  II.    From  the 
Bayeux  Tapestry. 


ENGLAND 

AND  THE 

FRENCH  POSSESSIONS 
of  WILLIAST 
1087 

sessions  of  William  I. 


Norman  England. 


61 


was  in  open  rebellion.     The  Battle  of  Hastings  gave  the  Battle  of 
destinies  of  England  into  the  hands  of  William.    In  the  Hastings,  1066. 
wild  rout  of  Senlac  Hill,  Harold  was  slain  and  his  forces 
scattered. 

Not  yet,  however,  was  the  kingdom  won.  The  Witan  The  Conquest, 
met  at  London  and  elected  Edgar  Atheling  king.  Ignor- 
ing this  action,  William  marched  through  Kent  and  Sus- 
sex, ravaging  the  lands  of  those  who  opposed  him,  up  to 
the  very  gates  of  London.  He  hesitated  to  lay  siege  to  the 
city  for  he  wished  to  present  himself  not  as  a  conqueror, 
but  as  rightful  successor  to  the  crown. 
His  forbearance  was  soon  justified.  The 
citizens  of  London,  seeing  that  the  great 
northern  earls  made  no  movement  in 
their  behalf,  opened  their  gates  to  Har- 
old's triumphant  rival,  and  went  through 
the  form  of  electing  him  king.  William 
was  crowned  on  Christmas  day,  1066,  in 
the  beautiful  abbey  built  by  the  Confessor 
at  Westminster.  He  took  oath  to  '  'govern 
the  English  people  as  well  as  any  king 
before  him  had  best  done,  if  they  would 
be  faithful  to  him."  The  Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle,  usually  so  dry  and  barren  of 
personal  details,  waxes  ardent  in  the 

description  of  William   the   Conqueror. 

William  I.  From  the 
"  This  King  William  was  a  very  wise  man    Bayeux  Tapestry. 

and  very  powerful,  more  dignified  and  strong  than  any 
of  his  predecessors.  He  was  mild  to  the  good  men  who 
loved  God  and  over  all  measure  severe  to  the  men  who 

gainsayed    his   will So    also    was   he  a  very 

rigid  and  cruel  man  so  that  no  one  durst  do  anything 
against  his  will.  He  had  earls  in  his  bonds  who  had  acted 
against  his  will ;  bishops  he  cast  from  their  bishoprics,  and 


52 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  New  Forest 
near  Winches- 
ter. The  dis- 
trict was 
cleared  of  its 
inhabitants, 
whole  villages 
being  laid 
waste  to  make 
place  for  the 
deer. 


abbots  from  their  abbacies,  and  thanes  into  prison.  .  .  . 
Among  other  things  is  not  to  be  forgotten  the  good  peace 
that  he  made  in  this  land ;  so  that  a  man  who  had  any 
confidence  in  himself  might  go  through  the  realm,  with  his 
bosom  full  of  gold,  unhurt.  .  .  .  Certainly  in  his  time 
men  had  great  hardship  and  very  many  injuries.  Castles 
he  caused  to  be  made  and  poor  men  to  be  greatly  oppressed. 
He  had  fallen  into  covetousness  and  altogether  loved 
greediness.  He  planted  a  great  preserve  for  deer,  and  he 
laid  down  laws  therewith,  that  whosoever  should  slay  hart 
or  hind  should  be  blinded.  He  forbade  the  harts  and  also 
the  boars  to  be  killed.  As  greatly  did  he  love  the  tall  deer 
as  if  he  were  their  father.  He  also  ordained  concerning  the 
hares  that  they  should  go  free.  His  great  men  bewailed  it 
and  the  poor  men  murmured  thereat ;  but  he  was  so  ob- 
durate that  he  recked  not  of  the  hatred  of  them  all,  but 
they  must  wholly  follow  the  king's  will  if  they  would 
live  or  have  land  or  property  or  even 
his  peace."  Such  was  the  man  who 
had  won  the  crown  of  England — stern 
and  masterful,  indifferent  to  the  suf- 
fering wrought  in  the  execution  of  his 
purpose ;  but  an  able  administrator, 
bent  on  so  governing  his  realm  that 
none  but  the  king  could  oppress  the 
people. 

When  William  was  crowned  at  West- 
minster only  the  southeastern  counties 
acknowledged  his  right  to  reign.  The 
west  and  north  held  out  for  Edgar. 
The  subjugation  of  the  rebellious  dis- 
tricts occupied  the  years  from  1067  to  1070.  Mercia  and 
Northumbria  were  reduced  to  submission,  and  the  un- 
happy Edgar  took  refuge  in  Scotland,  where  his  sister 


A  Saxon  Warrior. 


Norman  England.  63 


Margaret  was  queen.  The  king  handled  with  merciless 
severity  the  miserable  lesser  folk  who  had  but  blindly  fol- 
lowed the  lead  of  their  Saxon  lords.  Determined  to  render 
another  rising  impossible,  William  gave  orders  that  the 
land  should  be  laid  waste.  Cities  and  villages  were  re- 
duced to  ashes  and  the  crops  destroyed.  The  helpless  in- 
habitants were  slaughtered  or  left  to  die  of  starvation. 
"  He  made  a  desert  and  called  it  peace." 

The  fame  of  Norman  cruelty  and  Norman  prowess  pre- 
ceded the  king  even  to  the  frontiers  of  his  terrified  king- 
dom. Chester  and  the  Welsh  border  submitted  without 
resistance,  and  Malcolm,  king  of  Scotland,  acknowledged 
William  as  his  overlord.  The  last  stronghold  of  the  Eng- 
lish resistance  was  the  Isle  of  Ely,  lying  inaccessible  in  the 
heart  of  the  Fens.  Here  the  Saxon  malcontents  rallied 
under  the  leadership  of  Hereward  the  Wake,  who  defended 
his  island  fortress  with  desperate  but  unavailing  courage. 

THE    FOREIGN  KINGS. 

The  people  so  conquered  must  now  be  held  in  subjection. 

Wi  HI  3,  TO  i. 

In  the  task  of  governing  his  newly  acquired  kingdom,  the  1066-1087. 
Norman  duke  proved  himself  preeminent  in  statecraft 
as  he  had  hitherto  been  in  war.  He  was  most  desirous  of 
ruling  as  an  English  king,  but  the  chaotic  condition  of  the 
country  necessitated  a  method  of  government  hardly 
to  be  distinguished  from  a  military  occupation.  The 
estates  of  the  rebellious  Saxon  thanes  were  confiscated  and 
made  over  to  his  Norman  followers,  whose  interests  were 
identified  with  the  interest  of  the  king,  and  who  could  be 
relied  upon  to  crush  any  incipient  revolt  on  the  part  of  the 
English.  William  further  guaranteed  his  authority  against 
Saxon  and  Norman  alike  by  building  in  all  the  principal 
towns  castles  which  he  garrisoned  with  his  own  men. 
Many  of  these  are  still  standing,  notably  the  strong  Tower 
of  London. 


54  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

The  Conqueror  meant  that  the  royal  authority  should  be 
supreme  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 
England  had  known  no  such  kingship,  not  even  in  the 
days  of  Edgar.  The  great  thanes,  assembled  in  the  Witan, 
had  been  accustomed  to  make  laws  for  the  nation,  having 
power  to  elect  and  even  to  depose  the  king,  but  William 
and  his  successors  rejected  the  Anglo-Saxon  conception  of 
monarchy.  In  their  interpretation  the  king  was  not  the 
elected  leader  and  representative  of  his  people,  but  lord  of 
the  land  and  master  of  its  inhabitants.  Succession  to  the 
throne  was  henceforth  by  inheritance  as  to  a  private 
estate. 

With  such  conceptions  of  the  royal  office,  the  form  of 
election  must  soon  lapse.  William  could  not  allow  to  any 
subject  such  power  as  had  been  wielded  by  Godwin  and 
Harold.  He  therefore  abolished  the  great  earldoms.  To 
a  favored  few  were  granted  large  estates,  but  these  were 

scattered  piecemeal  in  different  parts  of  the  country  so 

Apportionment 

of  land.   The     that  there  should  be  no  concentration  of  power.    The  king 

king  held  1422 

manors;  Earl  reserved  to  himself  the  lion's   share   of  the   confiscated 

of   Moretame, 

793;  Earl  of        territories,  and  never  relinquished  his  prerogative  as  origi- 

Bisnop  of         nai  proprietor.    In  granting  lands  to  his  vassals  William 

Bayeux,  439 ; 

Bishop  of  Con-  made  the  most  of  his  opportunity  to  impose  more  stringent 

Sl3.11C©j  ^oO» 

Eleven  propri-  conditions  than  had  been  customary  in  England  or  even  in 

etors  held  4,242  J 

of  the  9,250        Normandy.    Every  vassal  must  pay  an  annual  rent,  not 

manors  in 

England.          however,  in  money,  but  in  military  service.    The  specific 

terms  of  his  tenure  depended  upon  his  rank  and  the  extent 

hS§raet2?lX  of  his  fief-    If  the  tenant  failed  in  his  d"ty»   the  grant 
tenuref1  might  be  recalled.    In   this  way  every   great   lord   was 

bound  to  send  his  contingent  to  the  king's  army.  The 
feudal  relation— by  which  we  are  to  understand  the  recip- 
rocal obligations  of  lord  and  vassal,  the  lord  granting  land 
and  protection,  the  vassal  giving  a  stipulated  service — pre- 
vailed throughout  the  Middle  Ages  both  in  England  and  on 


Norman  England.  55 


the  Continent.  It  was  the  characteristic  social  tie  not 
only  between  sovereign  and  tenant-in-chief,  but  between 
the  king's  vassals  and  their  subtenants,  between  the  sub- 
tenants and  their  dependents.  King  William  did  not 
introduce  feudalism  into  England  (we  have  seen  that  the 
relation  already  existed  between  the  landowners  and  the 
cultivators  of  the  soil,  between  the  king  and  his  thanes), 
but  he  put  upon  it  a  new  interpretation.  Feudalism  be- 
came, under  his  vigorous  administration,  a  political  system 
that  brought  the  wealth  and  fighting  force  of  every  land- 
owner in  the  country  under  the  king's  control.  He  obliged 
"  all  the  landowners  that  were  of  account  over  all  Eng- 
land "  to  take  the  oath  of  personal  fealty  to  him.  Every 
man  knelt  before  him  and  placing  his  hands  between  those  The  galis 
of  the  king  swore  "  to  be  faithful  to  the  king  before  all  *™£  Oath, 
other  men."  So  did  the  astute  Norman  check  the  ten- 
dency to  disintegration  that  was  the  bane  of  continental 
feudalism.  While  the  Salisbury  oath  was  observed,  no 
powerful  vassal  could  gather  his  dependents  to  make  war 
against  his  sovereign.  All  tenants-in-chief  were  sum- 
moned to  meet  the  king  in  a  great  council  three  times  a 

year,  at  Christmas,  at  Easter,  and  at  Whitsuntide.    This  The  Great 

Council, 
was  apparently  a  continuation  of  the  Witenagemot  and 

indeed  the  old  name  was  for  some  tune  retained.  It  was, 
however,  no  longer  a  meeting  of  wise  men,  the  counselors 
of  the  king,  but  of  principal  landowners  who  came  in  feudal 

array  not  to  advise  their  sovereign  but  to  render  homage.   Curia  Regis, 

standing  com- 

Upon  this  change  of  function  followed  a  loss  of  power,   mitteeofthe 

great  council 

The  administration  of  government  was  in  the  hands  of  the  made  up  of 

the  king's 

king's  officers  and  the  powers  of  the  Witenagemot  were   ministers. 

absorbed  by  the  Curia  Regis. 

In  order  that  he  might  be  fulty  informed  as  to  the  value 

The  Domesday 
of  his  new  domain,  the  king  had  a  rent-roll  compiled  Survey. 

— the  so-called  Domesday  Survey.    This  concern  for  accu- 


56  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

rate  knowledge  of  his  realm  is  a  mark  of  the  highest 
statesmanship  ;  the  Survey  was  at  one  and  the  same  time 
a  census,  a  land  register,  and  a  basis  of  taxation,  and  re- 
mains of  the  highest  value  to  historians  ;  but  the  inquiry 
was  deeply  resented  by  the  contemporary  chronicler. 
"After  this  the  king  had  a  great  council  and  very  deep 
speech  with  his  Witan  about  this  land,  how  it  was  peo- 
pled, or  by  what  men  ;  then  sent  he  his  men  over  all  Eng- 
land into  every  shire,  and  caused  to  be  ascertained  how 
many  hundred  hides  were  in  the  shire,  or  what  land  the 
king  himself  had,  and  cattle  within  the  land,  or  what  dues 
he  ought  to  have,  every  twelve  months  from  the  shire. 
Also  he  caused  to  be  written  how  much  land  his  arch- 
bishops had,  and  his  suffragan  bishops  and  his  abbots  and 
his  earls;  and — tho'  I  may  narrate  somewhat  prolixly 
— what  or  how  much  each  man  had  who  was  a  holder  of 
land  in  England,  in  land  or  in  cattle,  and  how  much 
money  it  might  be  worth.  So  very  narrowly  he  caused  it 
to  be  traced  out,  that  there  was  not  one  single  hide,  nor 
one  yard  of  land,  nor  even — it  is  a  shame  to  tell,  tho' 
it  seemed  to  him  no  shame  to  do — an  ox,  nor  a  cow,  nor  a 
swine  was  left  that  was  not  set  down  in  his  writ.'* 

In  the  Salisbury  oath^and  the  Domesday  Survey,  the 
Conqueror's  work  in  England  reached  its  climax.  He  had 
succeeded,  for  the  time  being,  in  bringing  men  of  all  ranks 
and  races  to  acknowledge  the  duty  of  primary  allegiance  to 
the  king.  The  next  year  he  was  engaged  in  war  with  his 
own  overlord,  Philip  of  France.  At  the  siege  of  Mantes, 
he  received  an  injury  from  which  he  soon  after  died, 
"Alas!"  says  the  pious  chronicler,  "how  false,  how  un- 
stable, is  the  good  of  this  world.  He  who  had  been  a  power- 
ful king  and  the  lord  of  many  territories,  possessed  not 
then,  of  all  his  lands,  more  than  seven  feet  of  ground." 

In  accordance  with  the  Conqueror's  will,  his  eldest  son 


Norman  England. 


57 


Robert  succeeded  him  in  Normandy,  William,  the  second 
son,  became  king  of  England,  while  to  Henry  Beauclerc, 
the  scholar  of  the  family,  was  left  a  sum  of  £5,000  and  some 
private  estates. 
William  II.  had  inherited  the  worst  traits  of  his  father  wiiiiam  Rufus. 


His  greed  was  restrained  by  no 


1087-1100. 


William  Rufus. 


with  none  of  the  good, 
sense  of  justice,  his  im- 
petuous will  was  guided 
by  no  statesmanlike 
fore-sight.  He  regarded 
his  kingship  only  as  an 
opportunity  for  indulg- 
ing to  the  full  his  fierce 
and  unbridled  passions. 
Ranulf,  the  justiciar, 
was  his  able  accomplice. 
This  man,  nicknamed 
Flambard,  "the  fire- 
brand," had  won  the 

favor  of  his  royal  patron  by  his  ingenuity  in  devising  new  justiciar, 

vice-gerent 
pretexts  for  wringing  money  from  the  reluctant  purses  of  or  prime 

the  vassals.  In  accordance  with  the  continental  version 
of  the  relations  between  lord  and  vassal,  the  king  had 

control  of  the  estates  of  a  minor  and  might  pocket  the  in-  Feudal 

„  „  ,  exactions, 

come.    On  coming  of  age  the  heir  must  pay  a  large  sum 

of  money  (relief)  for  the  privilege  of  entering  upon  his 
inheritance.  If  the  heir  were  a  woman,  the  king  could 
marry  her  to  whomsoever  he  would.  Choice  of  a  husband 
was  only  conceded  to  the  woman  or  her  relatives  on  pay- 
ment of  a  heavy  fine.  If  there  were  no  heirs  or  in  case  a 
vassal  were  convicted  of  felony,  the  estate  lapsed  (escheated) 
to  the  crown.  Certain  extraordinary  "  aids  "  might  be  de- 
manded on  the  marriage  of  the  king's  eldest  daughter  or  the 
knighting  of  his  eldest  son  or,  in  case  he  was  taken  captive, 


58 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Revolt  of 
the  Barons. 


for  his  ransom.  All  these  services  may  be  justified  as  medi- 
eval forms  of  rent,  and  they  were  in  turn  required  by  the 
king's  vassals  of  their  subtenants.  Under  a  just  adminis- 
tration they  were  not  exorbitant,  but  the  Red  King  and 
Ranulf,  ignoring  all  right  and  precedent,  set  no  bounds  to 
their  merciless  greed.  Of  the  second  William,  the  Chronicle 
says:  "  He  was  very  rigorous  and  stern  over  his  land  and 
his  men  and  towards  all  his  neighbors,  and  very  formidable; 
and  thro'  the  counsels  of  evil  men,  that  were  always  grate- 
ful to  him,  and  through  his 
own  covetousness,  he  was  ever 
tormenting  this  nation  with 
an  army  and  with  unjust  ex- 
actions ;  because  in  his  days 
every  right  fell  and  every 
wrong  in  the  sight  of  God  and 
of  the  world  rose  up."  These 
exactions  were  felt  most 
heavily,  of  course,  by  the 
Norman  barons,  and  were 
promptly  resented.  Under 
the  lead  of  Odo,  Bishop  of 
Bayeux,  they  revolted  and  de- 
clared for  Robert,  Duke  of 
Female  Costume  of  the  reign  of 

Rufus  and  Henry  I.  Normandy,  the  elder  brother. 

The  king  in  his  extremity  turned  to  his  English  subjects. 
"  He  then  sent  after  Englishmen  and  told  to  them  his  need 
and  desired  their  support  and  promised  them  the  best  laws 
that  ever  were  before  in  this  land,  and  every  unjust  im- 
post he  forbade  and  granted  to  men  their  woods  and  liberty 
of  the  chase;  but,"  adds  the  chronicler  dejectedly,  "it 
stood  no  while."  The  revolt  once  suppressed,  the  king  re- 
newed his  cruel  practices. 
In  1100  William  Rufus  was  killed  while  hunting  in  the 


Norman  England.  59 


New  Forest  and  Henry  was  chosen  king.  This  wise  Henry  i. 
prince  had  shown  himself  an  able  ruler  in  his  little  Nor- 
man province,  and  his  accession  brought  a  much  needed 
peace  to  England.  The  king  desired,  first  of  all,  to  be  on 
good  terms  with  his  English  subjects.  With  this  in  view 
he  married  Edgyth,  the  niece  of  Edgar  the  Atheling,  "  of 
the  right  royal  race  of  England."  Her  name,  which  was 
impossible  to  a  French  tongue,  was  changed  to  Matilda. 
The  Norman  courtiers  gave  to  the  Saxon  princess  but  a 
grudging  welcome  ;  they  mocked  the  popular  sympathies  of 
the  king  and  queen  by  giving  them  the  homely  English 
names,  Goodrich  and  Godiva.  But  King  Henry  recked 
nothing  of  their  merriment.  He  had  "  promised  God  and  Th 

all  the  people  to  put  down  all  the  injustices  that  were  in  his  granted  at  his 

accession  was 

brother's  time,  and  to  maintain  the  best  laws  that  stood  in  the  model  for 

all  subsequent 

any  king's  day  before  him."  The  Bed  King's  justiciar  guarantees  of 

good  govern- 

Banulf  was  thrown  into  the  Tower  of  London  and  such   ment. 

officers  were  appointed  as  would  rightly  administer  the  gov- 
ernment. The  king's  agents  made  regular  circuits  through 
the  shires  executing  justice  and  collecting  the  royal  reve- 
nues. Law  and  order  were  so  far  maintained  that  King 
Henry  was  called  the  Lion  of  Justice.  Yet  the  imposts 
levied  in  the  name  of  the  king  fell  heavily  upon  the  people, 
and  the  Chronicle  bitterly  complains  of  the  sore  oppression 
of  the  land.  The  malcontent  nobles  leagued  against  him. 
Flambard,  escaped  from  the  Tower,  and  Kobert  of  Bell6me  the  Barons, 
concerted  with  Robert  of  Normandy  an  attack  on  England, 
purposing  to  place  Duke  Robert  on  the  throne.  Rallying  to 
his  aid  the  English  and  the  lesser  vassals,  Henry  worsted 
his  foes.  In  the  decisive  battle  of  Tinchebrai,  the  two 
Roberts  were  taken  prisoners  and  Normandy  came  into  the  Normandy, 
possession  of  the  English  king.  Duke  Robert  lingered  out 
his  days  a  captive  in  Cardiff  Castle,  and  the  Norman  nobles, 
deprived  of  pretext  for  revolt,  never  again  lifted  hand 


60 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Stephen. 
1135-1154. 


against  Henry.  In  1135  this  good  king  died.  "Then  there 
was  tribulation  soon  in  the  land,  for  every  man  that  could, 
forthwith  robbed  another.  ...  A  good  man  he  was 
and  there  was  great  awe  of  him.  No  man  durst  misdo 
against  another  in  his  time.  He  made  peace  for  man  and 
beast." 

The  barons  had  promised  the  dying  king  to  place  his 
daughter  Matilda  on  the  throne ;  but  the  kingdom  was  a 


Vision  of  Henry  I.    An  ancient  Drawing,  showing  the 
Costume  of  the  Clergy. 


turbulent  one  to  be  ruled  by  a  woman.  There  was  a  rival 
claimant,  Stephen  of  Blois,  son  of  the  Conqueror's  daugh- 
ter Adela.  His  cause  was  championed  by  the  citizens  of 
London,  who  hoped  that  he  would  maintain  the  peace  and 
good  order  so  essential  to  commercial  prosperity.  The  sup- 
port of  the  city  of  London  has  again  and  again  in  Eng- 
lish history  determined  a  doubtful  contest.  Stephen  was 
chosen  king  by  the  barons  and  was  soon  after  crowned 
at  Winchester.  But  the  hope  of  the  Londoners  was 
doomed  to  disappointment.  Matilda  urged  her  claims. 
Her  cause  was  supported  by  divers  of  the  great  nobles  who 


Norman  England.  61 


were,  however,  less  concerned  to  maintain  her  right  than 
to  defy  the  royal  authority.  The  weak,  unstable  character 
of  Stephen  gave  them  favorable  opportunity  to  assert  their 
independence.  "  When  the  traitors  perceived  that  he  was 
a  mild  man  and  soft  and  good  and  did  no  justice,  then  did 
they  all  wonder.  .  .  .  Every  powerful  man  built  him- 
self castles  and  held  them  against  the  king  and  they  filled 
the  land  full  of  castles.  They  cruelly  oppressed  the 
wretched  men  of  the  land  with  castle-works.  When  the 
castles  were  made  they  filled  them  with  devils  and  evil 
men.  Then  took  they  those  men  that  they  imagined  had 
any  property,  both  by  night  and  by  day,  peasant  men 
and  women,  and  put  them  in  prison  for  their  gold  and 
their  silver,  and  tortured  them  with  unutterable  torture. 
.  .  .  Many  thousands  they  killed  with  hunger ;  and 
that  lasted  the  nineteen  years  while  Stephen  was  king, 
and  ever  it  was  worse  and  worse.  They  laid  imposts  on 
the  towns  continually  and  called  it  '  censerie ' ;  when  the 
wretched  men  had  no  more  to  give,  they  robbed  and 
burned  all  the  towns,  so  that  thou  mightest  well  go  all  a 
day's  journey  and  thou  shouldst  never  find  a  man  sitting 
in  a  town  or  the  land  tilled.  .  .  .  Men  said  openly 
that  Christ  and  his  saints  slept."  Better  than  such  an- 
archy was  the  harsh  rule  of  the  Conqueror. 

Stephen  did  not  seek  the  support  of  the  English  as 
Henry  had  done.  He  foolishly  spent  his  treasure  in 
hiring  foreign  mercenaries,  who  were  even  more  cruel  than 
the  barons  and  alienated  the  people  from  their  once-loved 
king.  Still  Matilda  could  not  win  the  kingdom.  In  the 
battle  of  Lincoln,  Stephen  was  taken  prisoner  and  for  a  1141. 
few  months  Matilda  reigned  ;  but  she  proved  to  be  a  harsh 
and  vengeful  mistress.  London  revolted  and  the  great 
barons  renewed  their  allegiance  to  Stephen.  The  Angevin 
cause  seemed  lost  when  it  was  taken  up  and  brought  to  a 


62  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

triumphant  issue  by  Matilda's  son,  the  young  Henry. 
Though  but  nineteen  years  of  age,  this  prince  was  already 
lord  of  Normandy,  Maine,  Anjou,  and  Aquitaine,  and 
ruled  these  restless  provinces  with  a  strong  hand.  He 
arrived  in  England  in  1153  and,  rallying  Matilda's  adher- 
ents about  him,  made  such  headway  that  Stephen  was 
fain  to  treat  for  peace.  A  compromise  was  negotiated  by 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The  king  had  just  lost  his 
Treaty  of  onty  son>  Eustace.  He  agreed,  on  condition  that  he  might 

w|Jllingford-  retain  the  crown  during  his  life,  to  recognize  Henry  as  his 
son  and  heir.  So  the  long  strife  came  to  an  end.  When 
Stephen  died  in  the  next  year,  Henry  was  beyond  sea ; 
"  but  no  man  durst  do  other  than  good  for  the  great  awe  of 
him."  On  his  return  he  was  crowned  king  and  entered 
into  undisputed  possession  of  his  inheritance. 

RESULTS  OF  THE    CONQUEST. 

During  the  eighty-eight  years  since  the  Norman  invasion, 
the  aspect  of  England  had  undergone  great  changes.  The 
Norman  race  had  succeeded  in  establishing  itself  in  posses- 
sion not  only  of  the  crown  but  of  every  post  of  power  and 
profit  throughout  the  kingdom.  No  English  names  are 
to  be  found  among  the  tenants-in-chief  until  a  century 
after  the  Conquest.  Latin  was  the  language  of  the  Church 
and  the  law,  French  that  of  the  court.  The  separation 
between  the  two  races,  the  conquering  and  the  conquered, 
was  wide  and  deep.  Contempt  and  tyranny  on  the  one 
hand,  fear  and  hate  on  the  other,  prolonged  the  antago- 
nism to  which  the  harsh  methods  of  the  Conquest  had 
given  rise.  Yet  Saxon  and  Norman  were  originally  of  the 
same  stock.  The  case  was  not  that  of  the  English  in  India 
or  the  French  in  Algiers.  .It  was  evident  that  the  two 
races  must  eventually  come  together  and  fuse  into  one. 

The  immediate  effects  of  the  Norman  rule  were  pregnant 


Norman  England. 


with  result.  First  of  all  England  was  brought  into  close  Renewed  inter. 
relations  with  the  Continent.  The  Conqueror  ruled  Nor-  contact1.11  the 
mandy  and  England  as  one  kingdom.  His  great  barons 
held  estates  on  both  sides  the  Channel  and  much  journey- 
ing between  the  French  and  English  territories  became 
necessary.  Under  William  Rufus,  Normandy  and  England 
were  independent  realms,  but  Tinchebrai  gave  Normandy  to 
Henry  I.,  and  the  duchy  and  the  kingdom  remained  united 
for  a  hundred  years  thereafter.  This  political  connection 
brought  about  such  relations  with  the  Continent  as  had 
not  existed  since  Britain  was  a  Roman  colony.  Com- 
merce revived  ;  merchants  ventured  to  undertake  a  Euro- 
pean trade,  carrying  to  France,  Flanders,  and  Germany 
the  agricultural  products  of  England,  wool  and  grain,  fish 
and  cattle.  In  exchange  they  brought  back  the  fine  cloths, 
furs,  wines,  and  other  luxuries  required  by  the  Norman 
gallants.  Lead  and  tin  were  also  exported,  while  the  in- 
dispensable iron,  not  yet  discovered  in  the  barren  North- 
umbrian hills,  was  fetched  from  the  Baltic  coast.  The 
precious  metals,  too,  especially  silver,  were  imported  in 
considerable  quantity.  Commercial  enterprise  carried 
Englishmen  far  abroad,  to  Paris,  to  Marseilles,  to  Venice, 
and  the  Orient.  The  high-priced  dainties  they  brought 
back  in  their  brave  ships  were  not  their  most  valuable 
cargo.  Strange  tales  of  foreign  lands  and  customs,  mar- 
velous stories  of  romance  and  adventure,  wisdom  won  by 
contact  with  a  superior  civilization,  these  were  the  imports 
that  affected  most  deeply  the  life  of  the  English  people. 

Furthermore  the  Conquest  brought  England  into  touch  intellectual 
with  the  learning  of  the  Continent.  From  the  Universities 
of  Bologna  and  Paris,  from  the  renowned  Abbey  of  Bee, 
came  Lanfranc  and  Anselm  and  many  less  famous  scholars 
and  ecclesiastics,  who  introduced  the  Latin  tongue  and 
the  continental  authors  and  inspired  the  English  Church 


64  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

with  a  new  zeal  for  letters.  Out  of  obscure  beginnings 
rose  the  great  University  of  Oxford  "  where  the  clergy 
in  England  chiefly  flourished  and  excelled  in  clerkly  lore." 
Thousands  of  English  youths  crowded  its  cloisters,  taking 
upon  themselves  the  monk's  vows,  not  in  religious  de- 
votion, but  because  the  monastery  afforded  the  only  op- 
portunity for  the  scholar's  life.  The  intellectual  labors  of 
these  devotees  of  learning  were  confined  to  the  transcription 
of  Latin  manuscripts,  ecclesiastical  and  classical,  and  the 
embellishment  of  the  national  annals.  The  wordly-minded 
ecclesiastic  found  at  the  court  a  more  congenial  employ- 
ment. Since  the  clerics  were  the  only  learned  men  of  the 
day,  they  were  almost  exclusively  employed  by  the  Nor- 
man kings  in  the  administration  of  the  government. 
Hence  resulted  a  notable  modification  of  political  theory. 
The  monastic  training  had  instilled  into  the  thought  of 
these  cowled  chancellors  those  conceptions  of  law  and  gov- 
ernment which  were  handed  down  by  the  Church  as  part  of 
her  heritage  from  imperial  Rome.  Doctrines  of  the  king's 

Exaltation  of      supremacy  and  the  subject's  duty  of  obedience  are    not 

the  king's 

authority.          of  English  origin,  but  derived  from  the  Continent.    They 

were  imported  into  England  by  Norman  priests.  More- 
over the  greedy  misrule  of  the  barons  tended  to  foster 
respect  for  the  king's  authority.  The  supremacy  of  the 
king  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  safeguard  of  the  subject 
against  political  anarchy  such  as  devastated  England  under 
Edward  the  Confessor  and  the  feeble  Stephen.  From  the 
king's  officers  might  be  expected  a  more  uniform  justice 
than  was  meted  out  in  the  local  courts,  and  men  were  will- 
ing to  pay  dear  for  such  protection.  Neither  the  stern 
cruelty  of  William  nor  the  heavy  taxes  imposed  by  the 
Henries  could  obliterate  the  remembrance  of  "  the  good 
peace  they  had  made  in  the  land."  Throughout  these  cen- 
turies king  and  barons  were  engaged  in  a  well-matched 


Norman  England.  65 


contest  for  mastery.  The  ambitious  vassals  maintained 
a  prolonged  resistance  against  the  royal  authority.  Again 
and  again  the  strife  broke  out, — in  the  revolt  of  Hereford 
and  Norfolk  against  the  Conqueror,  in  the  opposition  of 
the  barons  to  the  exactions  of  William  Rufus,  in  the  rising 
against  Henry  I.,  led  by  Flambard,  in  the  contemptuous 
misrule  of  the  great  lords  under  Stephen.  It  was  a 
veritable  tug  of  war,  and  the  kings  were  forced  to  fall 
back  on  the  English  who,  having  their  own  grievances 
against  the  arrogant  Norman  lords,  were  ready  to  lend  aid 
to  the  royal  cause. 

In  the  long  struggle  between  king  and  barons,  the  clergy 
as  a  rule  cast  their  weight  on  the  side  of  royalty,  and  yet,  Church  and 
influenced  by  the  mounting  ambition  of  the  popes,  the 
Church  asserted  privileges  which  not  infrequently  brought 
her  into  antagonism  with  the  throne.  Rome  had  hoped 
from  William's  invasion  of  England  a  revival  of  the  old- 
time  relations  between  the  papal  see  and  the  English 
Church,  and  these  anticipations  were  in  some  degree 
realized.  There  followed  close  upon  the  Conquest  a  revival,  Ecclesiastical 
if  not  of  Christianity,  at  least  of  ecclesiasticism.  The  Nor-  estafbfish^f 
man  clergy  introduced  into  England  the  stricter  discipline  diction  ov'er 
imposed  upon  the  continental  Church  by  Gregory  VII. 
Celibacy  was  enforced  among  the  superior  clergy,  although 
the  parish  priests  were  contemptously  left  to  keep  their 
wives  if  they  would.  Monasticism  received  a  new  impulse 
with  the  incoming  of  the  Cistercians,  whose  voluntary 
poverty  and  severe  asceticism  attracted  the  admiration  and 
devotion  of  the  people.  William's  attitude  toward  the 
Church  was  that  of  the  able  ruler  who  sees  that  the  clergy 
may  serve  an  important  function  in  maintaining  order  and 
m  rallying  the  people  to  the  support  of  the  king.  He  de- 
posed the  English  prelates  and  appointed  Normans  in  their 
stead,  thus  securing  his  own  influence  in  all  the  superior 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Relations  of 
king  and  pope. 


Gregory  VII., 
1073-1085. 
Aimed  to  es- 
tablish celib- 
acy, to  repress 
simony,  to 
free  Church 
from  control 
of  State. 


offices ;  but  the  clerics  so  appointed  were  selected  with  an 
eye  to  their  churchmanship  as  well  as  to  their  loyalty. 
Lanfranc,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
was  one  of  the  most  learned  and  able 
ecclesiastics  of  his  day.  William  fur- 
ther converted  the  Church  hierarchy 
to  his  purpose  by  requiring  from  each 
bishop  and  abbot  the  oath  of  homage 
and  such  feudal  service  as  would  be 
due  from  a  lay  lord  holding  the  same 
lands.  The  Church  was  thus  feudal- 
ized, and  every  acre  of  monastery  land 
and  every  parish  glebe  was  made  to 
render  its  quota  to  the  royal  treasury. 
The  Conqueror  was  a  faithful  son  of 
the  Church,  and  yet  the  pretensions  of 
Gregory  VII.  to  supreme  authority  in 
ecclesiastical  affairs  were  met  by  un- 
compromising denial.  The  wise  and 

wary  MnS  won  from  the  P°Pe>  whose 
Century.  wjjj  no  otner  European  monarch  had 

been  able  to  withstand,  most  important  concessions.  No 
excommunication  was  to  be  declared  in  England  without 
the  king's  leave.  No  papal  bull  could  be  received  or  exe- 
cuted without  his  consent.  Legislation  in  church  synod 
was  subject  to  his  veto.  Appointments  to  ecclesiastical 
office  were  to  be  made  by  the  secular  power.  The  questions 
thus  settled  by  the  friendly  mediation  of  Lanfranc  were, 
however,  destined  to  be  opened  again  and  again,  and  to  vex 
statesmen  for  centuries  to  come.  For  example,  the  right  of 
appointment  to  ecclesiastical  office,  which  had  been  readily 
conceded  to  the  great  William,  was  challenged  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  I.  Anselm,  the  saintly  successor  of  Lanfranc, 
refused  to  consecrate  the  bishops  who  had  received  in- 


Norman  England.  67 


vestiture  from  the  king.     The  conflicting  claims  of  king  Right  of  inves- 

,  titure.  i.  e..  ap- 

and  pope  were  again  compromised.    Prelates  were  to  be  pointing  to  a 
elected  by  the  clergy,  but  in  the  king's  presence.    The  ring 


and  the  crozier,  symbols  of  the  spiritual  function,  were  to  incumbent*10 


be  bestowed  by  the  pope,  while  the  newly  elected  bishop  or  bythe  poe 
abbot  was  to  render  homage  to  the  king  for  his  estates.  benf  wasan" 

Upon  the  life  of  the  common  people  the  effect  of  the   ecclesiastic- 
Conquest  is  not  easily  ascertained.    The  early  chroniclers,   Life  of  the 
like  later  historians,  are  so  fully  occupied  in  recounting  P*0?16- 
the  deeds  of  rich   and   powerful   personages,    that   they 
tell  little  of  the  aspirations,  the  achievements,  the  failures 
of  the  humble  men  and  women  who  till  the  fields  and 
weave  the  cloth,  and  perform  the  thousand  tasks,  without 
which  the  projects  of  king  and  statesman  would  avail 
nothing  for  the  welfare  of  the  land.    This  people,  whose 
deeds  no  chronicler  records,  no  poet  sings,  and  concerning 
whose  life  we  can  gather  only  the  scantiest  information,  was 
the  major  part  of  the  nation.    The  population  of  England 
in  the  eleventh  century  was  about  1,500,000.    Judging  from 

data  afforded  by  the  Domesday  Survey  only  three  per  cent 

Census  of  adult 
belonged  to  tke  feudal  nobility.  The  remaining  ninety-seven  males. 

Vassals  of  the 
per  cent  were  small  landed  proprietors,  serfs,  and  slaves,   crown,  600  ; 

subtenants, 
The  feudal  lords  in  the  eleventh    century    were    almost   ~,87l  ;  ecclesi- 

astics. 994  ;  free 
without  exception  Norman,  while  the  lower  orders  were   proprietors, 

33,169  ;  serfs, 
wholly  English.    Speaking  the  Saxon  tongue,  ministered  195,580;  slaves, 

£>jloo  f  bur- 

to  by  Saxon  priests,  observing  the  social  and  political  cus-  gesses,  7,968. 
toms  of  their  ancestors,  they  lived  a  life  apart  and  were 
little  affected  by  the  change  of  masters.  The  principal 
Saxon  landholders  were,  as  has  been  seen,  degraded  by  the 
Conquest,  but  the  tillers  of  the  soil  were  left  in  undisturbed 
possession.  They  lived  on  in  the  ancient  rural  communi- 
ties (called  manors  in  the  Norman  speech),  and  cultivated 
the  land  they  had  inherited  from  their  fathers,  rendering 
to  the  new  lord  the  labor,  money,  or  product  service  re- 


68 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Rectitudines 

singularum 

personarum. 

Serf  (villein), 
agricultural 
laborer,  bound 
to  the  soil,  but 
personally 
free. 


Feast  of  St. 
Michael, 
September  11. 

Feast  of 
St.  Martin, 
November  11. 


quired  by  local  usage.  A  quaint  document  of  the  tenth 
century  gives  us  detailed  information  as  to  the  duties  and 
privileges  of  the  serf.  His  services  are  "various,  in  some 
places  heavy,  in  others  moderate."  He  is  required  to  work 
on  his  lord's  land  two  days  a  week  throughout  the  year 
and  three  days  a  week  through  the  spring  plowing  and 
planting  and  during  harvest.  Other  special  services  (boon- 
work)  must  be  rendered  upon  demand.  "  From  Martinmas 
to  Easter  he  shall  lie  at  his  lord's  fold  as  often  as  he  is 
bid."  He  may  be  asked  to  fetch  and  carry,  but  "  if  he  do 
carrying  he  is  not  to  work  while  his  horse  is  out."  The  re- 
maining time  he  is  free  to  use  on  his  own  land.  On  the 
great  church  festivals,  the  characteristic  marks  of  time  in 
the  medieval  calendar,  each  villein  must  bring  to  the 
manor  house  a  stipulated  contribution  in  money  or  pro- 
duce. On  Michaelmasday,  he  pays  tenpence  rent  ;  \>n 
Martinmasday,  thirty-three  sesters  of  barley  and  two  hens; 
at  Easter,  a  young  sheep  or  twopence.  It  is  the  duty  of 
the  serfs  to  feed  the  lord's  hounds  and  provide  for  the  vil- 
lage swineherd  to  whom  each  man  gives  six  loaves  "  when 
he  goes  to  mast."  The  lord,  for  his  part,  provides  his  serf 
with  thirty  acres  of  land  and  an  "outfit ",  i.  e.,  two  oxen, 
one  cow,  and  six  sheep,  tools  for  his  work,  and  utensils  for 
his  house.  "  Then  when  he  dies  his  lord  takes  back  what 
he  leaves."  "  This  land  law  holds  on  some  lands,  but  here 
and  there,  as  I  have  said,  it  is  heavier  or  lighter,  for  all 
land  services  are  not  alike.  On  some  lands  the  serf  shall 
pay  a  tax  in  honey,  on  some  in  meat,  on  some  in  ale.  Let 
him  who  is  over  the  district  take  care  that  he  knows  what 
the  old  land  customs  are  and  what  are  the  customs  of  the 
people."  To  secure  the  fulfillment  of  these  numerous  and 
complicated  services  required  sedulous  attention,  and  for 
this  purpose  the  lord  of  the  manor,  often  an  absentee,  em- 
ployed a  steward  or  bailiff.  His  was  a  hateful  task  and 


Norman  England.  69 


medieval  literature  abounds  in  sarcastic  allusions  to  his 
greed  and  cunning.  Serf  labor  seems  to  us  a  cumbersome 
method  of  getting  work  done,  but  it  was  the  form  of 
service  most  convenient  in  a  feudal  society  because  it  did 
not  require  direct  supervision.  It  was  to  every  man's 
interest  to  cultivate  his  own  plot  of  land  to  the  best  of  his 

knowledge  and  ability.    On  the  demesne  land  he  gave  but 

Demesne,  that 

a  grudging  service.    The  Domesday  Survey  reports  only  part  of  the  es- 
tate which  the 

twenty-five  thousand  slaves,  and  after  the  eleventh  century  lord  held  in 

exclusive  pos- 

the  number  rapidly  decreased.    This  was  in  part  a  conse-  session,   it 

was  cultivated 

quence  of  the  edict  against  the  slave-trade  issued  by  the   byserforsiave 

or  (later)  hired 

Conqueror,  but  was  due  even  more  to  the  prevalence  of  the  labor. 

feudal  relation  with  which  property  in  human  beings  was 
inconsistent.  The  free  proprietors  formed  only  twelve  per 
cent  of  the  population,  and  they  were  to  be  found  for  the 
most  part  in  the  north  among  the  recent  Danish  settlements. 
In  the  south,  the  feudal  tenure  was  well-nigh  universal. 

Life  within  the  manor  was  rude  and  simple  in  the  ex- 
treme. Communication  with  the  outside  world,  even  with 
the  neighboring  villages,  was  of  rare  occurrence.  Each 
community  was  self-sustaining.  Iron  implements,  mill- 
stones, salt,  and  spices  must  be  brought  from  a  distance, 
but  food,  shelter,  and  clothing  were  amply  provided  by 
local  industries.  The  methods  of  agriculture  were  primitive 
and  much  of  the  land  lay  unreclaimed  and  waste.  Per- 
haps not  more  than  one  fifth  of  the  cultivable  area  of  Eng- 
land was  in  use.  The  people  naturally  sought  the  fertile 
fields  of  the  southeast,  while  the  less  hospitable  regions 
of  the  west  and  north  were  but  sparsely  settled. 

Fully  three  fourths  of  the  population  of  medieval  Eng- 
land was  agricultural,  the  proportion  between  urban  and 
rural  inhabitants  being  about  what  it  is  in  Ireland  to-day. 
Mention  is  made  in  the  Domesday  Survey  of  eighty  towns, 
but  only  six  of  these  were  other  than  large  villages.  As  in 


70  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

Ireland,  the  most  prosperous  towns  were  seaports.    London 
and  Southampton  controlled  the  trade  between  southern 

England  and  the  Continent.    Norwich  brought  the  prod- 
Serfs  escaping 

to  a  town  and   ucts  of  the  eastern  counties  within  reach  of  the  sea,  while 
remaining  un- 
claimed a  year   the   western  districts  found  an  outlet  at  Bristol.      York, 
and  a  day 

acquired  free-  Lincoln,  Winchester,  and  Oxford   were  ancient  fortified 
dom.    Consid- 
erable ad-          places  of  great  strategic  importance.    The  Conquest  tended 
ditions  were 

thus  made  to  to  foster  the  growth  of  towns  since  it  not  only  opened  new 
the  town  pop- 
ulation, commercial  opportunities  on  the  Continent,  but,  by  bring- 
ing the  warring  sections  of  England  under  one  strong 
administration,  facilitated  internal  trade.  There  ensued  a 
period  of  marked  prosperity.  Increasing  by  rapid  strides  in 
wealth,  numbers,  and  influence,  the  townsmen  were  soon 
in  position  to  buy  from  the  king  or  their  over-lord  charters 
of  liberty  that  secured  to  them,  in  return  for  an  annual 
tax,  freedom  from  further  imposts  and  practical  self-govern- 
ment. The  affairs  of  the  burgesses  were  apparently  held 
quite  beneath  the  notice  of  the  royal  court  and  its  chroni- 
clers. The  towns  were  thought  of  only  as  a  source  of 
revenue.  Yet  in  the  silent,  unheeded  growth  of  these  trad- 
ing communities  there  was  preparing  a  power  destined 
to  play  a  notable  part  in  the  nation's  history. 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

FUSION  OF  RACES. 

Illustrative  Readings.  Important  Dates. 

Becket  •  Tennyson  Reiga  °f  Henry  IL'  1154-1189- 

1164.  Constitutions  of  Clarendon. 
Henry  the  Second;  Green.  1172.  Death  of  Archbishop  Thomas. 

1174.  Rising  of  the  Barons. 
The  Talisman  ;  Scott. 


1194.  Richard's  return   from  the 
Crusade. 

HENRY  II. 

Henry  of  Anjou  was  only  twenty-one  when  he  came  to 
the  throne  but  already  men  had  learned  "  to  bear  him 
great  love  and  fear."  Born  of  two  remarkable  races,  he 
inherited  the  strong  qualities  of  each.  His  instinct  of  gov- 
ernment, his  laborious  industry,  and  his  practical  wisdom 
were  Norman,  but  he  was  Angevin  in  his  patience,  his 
tenacity,  and  his  craftiness.  The  contrasts  of  his  character 
were  as  marked  as  its  power.  In  his  passions  he  was  half 
a  savage  ;  the  results  of  long  patient  scheming  were  often 
marred  by  a  moment's  ungovernable  rage,  and  his  irrever- 
ence was  only  equaled  by  his  superstition  ;  he  scoffed  at 
God  one  instant,  and  groveled  at  the  feet  of  a  priest  the 
next.  All  Henry's  force  and  power  and  untiring  activity 
were  needed  for  the  task  before  him.  Order  was  to  be  re-  England? 
stored,  a  rebellious  baronage,  grown  more  unruly  during 
the  disorder  of  Stephen's  reign,  was  to  be  curbed,  and  the 
Church,  dangerously  strong  and  conscious  of  its  strength, 
was  to  be  brought  within  bounds.  There  were,  moreover, 
new  problems  to  be  faced.  Beneath  the  anarchy  of  the  pre- 
ceding years,  the  forces  of  modern  civilization  were  at 
work,  and  in  spite  of  misrule  England  shared  in  the  great 

71 


72 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Henry  and 

the  Continent. 


industrial  and  intellectual  movement  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. While  rulers  and  barons  were  contending  for  the 
mastery,  towns  were  growing  in  size  and 
importance,  new  enterprises  were  started, 
and  trade  and  commerce  received  a  strong 
impetus.  Outside  the  towns,  Benedictine 
and  Cistercian  monks,  the  great  farmers 
of  the  age,  were  at  work  changing  the 
face  of  the  country ;  they  drained  swamps, 
built  roads,  and  reclaimed  new  soil,  they 
were  even  accused  in  their  greed  of  en- 
croaching on  the  churchyards.  Under 
their  influence  England  was  fast  becom- 
ing the  chief  wool-growing  center  of  the 
world.  It  was  an  age  of  eager  living,  of 
breathless  activity,  an  age  that  outgrew 
rapidly  the  forms  and  systems  of  the  past, 
that  pressed  forward  to  the  new  order  of 
the  future. 

Henry's  first  work  was  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the 
Treaty  of  Wallingford.  The  Flemish  mercenaries  were 
sent  home,  the  adulterine  castles  were  destroyed,  the  courts 
of  justice  reestablished.  In  rapid  journeyings  north  and 
west  he  brought  the  rebellious  border  chieftains  to  terms, 
and  wrung  submission  from  the  Welsh  and  Scots.  By  1158 
outward  order  was  restored,  and  he  could  turn  his  atten- 
tion to  his  possessions  on  the  Continent.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  look  upon  Henry's  interests  as  bounded  by  England ; 
he  was  a  European  ruler  before  he  was  an  English  king, 
and  almost  to  the  last  he  subordinated  England  to  the 
interests  of  his  continental  domains.  The  ruling  note  in 
the  policy  of  the  early  part  of  his  reign  was  his  desire  to 
found  a  great  Anglo-Angevin  empire,  but  his  position  in 
France  as  well  as  in  England  was  full  of  difficulties.  To 


Henry  II. 


HOUSE  OF  ANJOU 


Fusion  of  Races. 


73 


the  lands,  inherited  from  his  father  and  mother,  he  had 
added  the  duchy  of  Aquitaine,  the  dowry  of  Queen 
Eleanor,  and  his  rule  extended  from  the  Orkneys  to  the 
Pyrenees ;  but  his  vast  possessions  were  held  together  by 
no  common  interest,  no  common  tie  except  that  of  sub- 
jection to  himself,  and  in  each  his  title  was  disputed. 
Moreover,  he  stood  between  two  foes  ;  on  the  one  hand 
were  his  vassals,  jealous  of  the  interference  of  one  who 
was  to  them  almost  a  foreigner,  on  the  other  was  his 
suzerain  lord,  the  king  of  France,  eagerly  watching  for  a 
chance  to  stir  up  revolt  against  him. 
For  the  time  being,  however,  he 
was  able  through  force  and  diplo- 
macy to  secure  himself  against  all 
danger. 

Henry  II.  saw  plainly  how  much 
assistance  England  might  be  in 
carrying  out  his  policy,  and  it  was 
to  strengthen  his  hold  on  the  people 
as  well  as  to  increase  the  royal  rev- 
enue that  he  began  the  reorgan- 
ization of  the  administrative  ma- 
chinery. The  need  for  reform  was 
crying.  Five  or  six  different  legal 
systems  were  administered  in  as 
many  different  courts.  The  men  that  gave  judgment 
spoke  a  language  unknown  to  the  judged.  Old  cumber- 
some forms  of  procedure,  handed  down  from  a  time 
when  society  was  stationary,  were  still  retained  and 
the  result  of  a  trial  was  more  often  injustice  than 
justice.  To  remedy  these  evils  men  were  wont  to  look  to 
the  king  ;  he  was  the  fountain  of  justice,  his  will  was  law. 
It  was  Henry's  great  merit  that  he  replaced  the  personal, 
irregular  interference  of  the  crown  by  a  well  understood 


A  Friar. 


Legal  reforms. 


74 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


and  uniform  system  of  administration.  He  reorganized 
the  central  courts  of  justice,  the  Exchequer  and  Curia 
Regis,  and  to  make  their  great  powers  more  effectual,  he 
sent  itinerant  justices  from  these  courts  into  each  shire  to 
try  all  important  civil  and  criminal  cases.  At  the  same  time, 
by  the  decrees  of  the  Grand  Assize  and  the  Assize  of  Claren- 
don, the  Norman  principle  of  recognition  or  inquest  on 
oath  was  applied  to  all  suits.  If  it  were  a  question  of  the 
title  to  land,  twelve  sworn  men  of  the  district  chosen  indi- 
rectly by  the  sheriff  were  to  decide  the  matter  on  their 
own  knowledge  or  on  information  obtained  from  others. 
If  they  could  not  agree  in  their  judgment, 
other  men  were  added  until  twelve  were 
found  of  one  mind.  A  similar  method  was 
used  in  criminal  cases.  Jurors,  sworn  men 
of  the  hundred,  were  to  accuse  before  the 
shire  court  all  whom  they  thought  guilty  of 
crime.  They  were  sworn  to  speak  the  truth, 
hence  their  accusation  was  called  a  verdict 
(vere  dicta),  and  there  was  no  appeal  from  it 
except  to  the  ordeal.  Even  if  a  man  stood 
that  test,  he  was  bound  to  abjure  the  realm 
as  one  of  evil  repute.  It  is  from  these  juries 
of  recognition  and  presentment  that  by  a 
long  series  of  changes  our  modern  jury 
system  has  been  evolved.  The  results  of 
Henry's  reforms  were  of  far-reaching  im- 
Queen  Eleanor.  pOrtance.  The  royal  exchequer  was  enriched 
and  the  royal  authority  strengthened  by  the  increased 
business  of  the  king's  courts  ;  at  the  same  time  the  hold  of 
the  barons  on  their  vassals  was  weakened,  for  the  revival 
of  the  shire  courts  was  at  the  expense  of  the  private  juris- 
dictions. Moreover  through  their  enforced  activity  on  the 
local  juries,  Englishmen  received  a  training  in  public  work 


of  Races.  75 


that  fitted  them  as  nothing  else  could  have  done  for  the 
part  they  were  to  play  at  a  later  day  in  the  government  of 
the  nation. 
It  was  but  as  a  part  of  his  scheme  for  the  ordering  of  his  _ 

The  Church. 

realm  that  Henry  on  his  return  to  England  in  1163  took  up 
the  question  of  the  relations  of  State  and  Church.  His 
aim  was  to  establish  one  law  for  all,  but  a  great  body  of 
his  subjects  stood  wholly  outside  the  secular  law,  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  royal  courts.  The  clerical  order,  which  at 
this  time  included  all  of  the  educated  and  professional 
classes,  had,  by  a  wide  interpretation  of  the  Conqueror's 
plan  of  separate  ecclesiastical  courts,  freed  itself  entirely 
from  the  secular  jurisdiction.  But  the  Church  could  not 
inflict  bodily  punishment,  hence  no  matter  how  serious 
his  offense,  a  clerk  convicted  of  crime  needed  to  fear  noth- 
ing worse  than  fine  or  imprisonment.  As  a  result,  holy 
orders  had  become  a  refuge  for  the  lawless,  and  crime  and 
disorder  were  on  the  increase.  Henry  had  already  pre- 
pared for  his  work  of  reform  by  forcing  the  primacy,  Archbishop 
made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Theobald,  upon  his  friend 
and  chancellor,  Thomas  Becket.  Although  an  ecclesiastic, 
Thomas  had  shown  himself  so  zealous  a  servant  of  the 
crown  in  the  work  of  restoring  order  and  administering 
the  realm,  that  men  had  mocked  at  the  haste  with  which 
he  "  put  off  the  deacon  "  ;  but  now  he  hung  back  declar- 
ing he  could  not  "serve  two  masters."  Henry  insisted, 
however,  and  the  election  took  place,  but  Thomas  at 
once  resigned  the  chancellorship,  and  it  was  plain  that 
a  breach  between  the  two  would  not  long  be  deferred. 

It  was  over  the  trial  of  a  clerk  accused  of  murder  that 

The  Consti- 

they  first  crossed  swords.    Henry  would  have  the  offender  tutions  of 

Clarendon. 

brought  before  the  royal  courts,  but  Thomas  declared  that 

the  case  belonged  to  the  Church.    Both  appealed  to  the 
"customs"  of  the  realm,  and  to  settle  what  those  customs 


76  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

were  a  great  council  was  held  at  Clarendon  in  1164.  There 
the  ancient  usages,  collected  and  written  down  by  some  of 
the  older  nobles,  were  read  before  the  assembled  bishops 
and  baronage.  They  were  in  the  main  the  provisions  es- 
tablished by  the  Conqueror  and  Henry  I.,  and  these  passed 
unchallenged,  but  over  the  clauses  relating  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  ecclesiastical  courts  dispute  arose.  The  Church 
was  allowed  to  retain  its  control  of  all  questions  relating  to 
marriages  or  wills  or  involving  an  oath,  but  in  case  of 
doubt  the  Curia  Regis  was  to  decide  where  the  suit  be- 
longed. A  clerk  accused  of  crime  was  to  be  tried  in  the 
secular  courts,  and  if  convicted  the  Church  should  not  in- 
terfere to  protect  him.  Moreover  all  appeal  to  Rome  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  king  was  forbidden.  Thomas  pas- 
sionately refused  to  sign  the  Constitutions,  as  they  were 
called,  and  withdrew  from  the  council.  A  little  later,  fear- 
ing for  his  life,  he  fled  to  France. 

For  ten  years  the  struggle  continued  between  the  two 
men,  once  friends,  now  bitter  foes.  Henry  was  contending 
for  the  supremacy  of  the  State,  Thomas  for  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  Church.  Each  was  sincere  in  his  purpose, 
even  though  the  king  had  an  eye  to  his  own  authority  as 
well  as  the  good  of  the  realm,  and  the  archbishop  never 
forgot  personal  ambition  in  the  interests  of  his  order.  The 
king  was  perhaps  in  advance  of  his  time,  the  priest  did  not 
realize  that  certain  privileges  of  the  Church  were  no  longer 
necessary  to  her  usefulnesss. 

All  attempts  at  compromise  between  the  two  were  ren- 

Death  of 

Thomas,  dered  vain  by  the  king's  unreasoning  violence  and  by  the 

stubbornness  with  which  Thomas  held  to  the  limiting 
clause  "Saving  the  honor  of  my  order."  Excommunica- 
tion of  the  churchmen  who  supported  the  king  was 
answered  by  outlawry  of  all  the  archbishop's  relatives,  and 
when  the  pope  threatened  to  lay  the  kingdom  under  an  in- 


Fusion  of  Races.  77 


terdict,  Henry  decreed  that  anyone  bringing  the  interdict  to 
England  should  be  punished  as  a  traitor.  At  last,  in  1170,  a 
half  reconciliation  was  brought  about,  and  both  men  agreed 
to  let  the  past  go,  but  no  sooner  had  the  archbishop  re- 
turned to  England  than  he  renewed  the  attack  on  the  king 
by  excommunicating  those  bishops  who  had  taken  part 
in  the  recent  coronation  of  the  king's  eldest  son.  Henry, 
beside  himself  with  rage  at  the  news,  uttered  the  hasty 
wish  that  he  were  freed  from  his  stubborn  foe.  A  few  days 
later  the  archbishop  was  struck  down  in  his  own  cathedral 
of  Canterbury  by  four  knights,  roused  to  the  bloody  deed 
by  the  king's  wrathful  words.  Thomas  had  won  the  crown 
of  martyrdom  to  which  he  had  so  long  aspired,  and  Henry 
was  called  to  face  the  indignant  horror  of  all  Christendom. 
In  vain  he  disowned  the  act  and  promised  to  punish  the 
murderers ;  threatened  with  excommunication,  he  with- 
drew hastily  to  Ireland,  hoping  to  appease  the  papal  wrath 
by  carrying  out  the  long  mooted  conquest  of  that  country. 
Henry's  work  in  Ireland  was  still  incomplete  when  he 
was  recalled  by  the  rebellious  attitude  of  his  sqn  Henry,  the  Baronage, 
whom  he  had  caused  to  be  crowned  king  that  the  succes- 
sion might  be  secured,  and  who  now  wished  to  set  his 
father  aside.  The  danger  from  the  young  king  was  the 
greater  because  to  him  the  discontented  on  both  sides  the 
Channel  looked  as  a  leader;  Philip  of  France  was  always  on 
the  alert  to  stir  up  revolt,  and,  as  a  writer  of  that  day  says, 
"there  were  few  barons  in  England  not  wavering  in  their 
allegiance  to  the  king  and  ready  to  desert  him  at  any 
time."  From  the  beginning  of  his  reign  Henry  had  borne 
with  heavy  hand  upon  the  strong  feudal  barons.  He 
destroyed  their  castles,  sent  his  justices  into  their  courts, 
and  forbade  private  coinage.  In  the  Great  Council,  he 
diminished  their  importance  by  compelling  the  attendance 
of  the  lesser  tenants-in-chief,  and  in  1170  he  struck  a  blow 


78  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation 

at  their  political  power  by  withdrawing  the  office  of 
sheriff  from  them,  giving  it  to  men  of  lesser  rank  trained 
in  his  courts  and  more  dependent  upon  his  will.  More- 
over, Henry's  plan  of  taking  scutage  or  shield  money  in 
lieu  of  service  in  the  field,  although  apparently  in 
the  interest  of  the  baronage,  told  against  their  military 
superiority,  for  it  took  from  their  bodies  of  armed  retainers 
the  chance  of  acquiring  skill  in  war,  while  it  enabled  the 
king  to  hire  foreign  mercenaries  upon  whom  he  could 
rely.  These  acts  were  viewed  with  alarm  by  the  nobles, 
and  the  outbreak  on  the  Continent  brought  matters  to  a 
crisis.  In  July,  1173,  Normandy  took  up  arms  for  the 
young  king,  and  in  a  few  months  half  England  was  in 
revolt.  Ireland  had  risen  against  the  English  rule,  and 
the  king  of  Scotland  at  the  head  of  an  army  was  advancing 
into  the  northern  counties.  Henry  was  in  Normandy 
when  the  news  of  the  rising  reached  him,  but  he  at 
once  hastened  home ;  he  had  learned  the  worth  of  his 
English  possessions,  and  "  he  preferred  that  his  lands  be- 
yond the  sea  should  be  in  peril  rather  than  his  own  realm 
of  England."  By  a  series  of  hard- won  victories  he  suc- 
ceeded in  breaking  down  all  resistance  both  in  England 
and  on  the  Continent,  and  in  a  few  months  the  revolt  was 
crushed  and  his  foes  were  suing  for  mercy. 

During  the  next  few  years  Henry's  power  was  at  its 
height ;  by  a  compromise  with  the  papal  legate  he  secured 
the  points  at  issue  in  his  quarrel  with  Thomas,  and  with 
the  aid  of  his  able  officials  he  worked  out  an  administra- 
tive system  through  which  he  could  make  his  will  felt 
from  one  end  of  the  kingdom  to  the  other. 

Henry's  Death.  ^e  G^ose  °f  his  reign  was  disturbed  by  the  rebellion  of 
his  sons  whom  he  loved  and  trusted  in  spite  of  repeated 
treachery.  The  young  king  was  dead,  but  Richard,  the 
heir  apparent,  fearing  the  favor  with  which  Henry  re- 


Fusion  of  Jtaces. 


79 


garded  his  youngest  child,  John,  allied  himself  with  Philip 
of  France  and  rose  against  his  father.  Defeated  on  all 
sides  and  ill  of  a  mortal  disease,  Henry  submitted  to  the 
hard  terms  forced  upon  him  and  turned  to  Chinon  to  die. 
They  brought  him  from  Philip  a  list  of  those  who  had 
conspired  against  him,  and  first  on  the  list  stood  the  name 
of  his  favorite  son  John.  Turning  his  face  to  the  wall 
he  said,  "  Now  let  things  go  as  they  will — I  care  no  more 
for  myself  or  for  the  world."  A  little  later  he  died,  mur- 
muring, "  Shame,  shame  on  a  conquered  king." 

Of  an  alien  race,  speaking  a  foreign  tongue,  and  spend- 
ing  but  thirteen  of  the  thirty-five  years  of  his  reign  in  Henry's  reign. 
England,  Henry  of  Anjou  has  nevertheless  left  an  indeli- 
ble mark  on  English  history.  His  ambition  to  figure  as  a 
continental  ruler  was  a  mistake,  his  Anglo-Angevin  em- 
pire hardly  outlived  the  century,  but  his  policy  deter- 
mined England's  for- 
eign relations  for  cen- 
turies to  come.  The 
effect  can  be  felt  still 
in  the  traditional  hos- 
tility between  the  En- 
glish and  the  French 
people.  It  was  chiefly, 
however,  through  his 
work  at  home  that  he 
impressed  his  person- 
ality on  the  national  Seal  of  Henry  II. 
life.  He  destroyed  feudalism  as  a  system  of  government, 
brought  the  Church  under  the  control  of  the  State,  and 
established  a  strong  centralized  administrative  system.  In 
doing  this  he  raised  the  power  of  the  crown  to  a  dangerous 
height,  but  at  the  same  time,  in  nationalizing  the  Church, 
in  destroying  the  feudal  traditions  of  the  baronage,  and  in 


80 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


reviving  the  activity  of  the  local  courts,  he  nourished  the 
forces  which  in  the  next  century  were  to  bring  that  power 
within  bounds. 

RICHARD    I. 

In  1189  Richard,  the  third  son  of  Henry  II.,  succeeded 
his  father  on  the  throne.  There  is  little  likeness  between 
Richard,  the  brilliant  knight-errant,  and  Henry,  the  hard- 
working man  of  business,  but  in  the  elements  of  consti- 
tutional progress  and  national 
growth  one  reign  is  but  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  other.  Abroad, 
Henry's  policy  was  followed  by 
his  son,  and  at  home  the  admin- 
istrative system  was  developed 
along  lines  already  laid  down. 

Though  born  in  England, 
Richard  was  even  more  truly 
than  his  father  a  foreign  king. 
But  twice  during  his  reign  of 
ten  years  -did  he  spend  a  few  months  in  England,  and 
he  touched  the  national  life  only  through  his  demands  for 
money.  Soon  after  taking  possession  of  his  English  king- 
dom he  started  on  a  crusade  to  the  Holy  Land,  leaving  the 
realm  in  the  hands  of  his  justiciar,  William  Longchamp. 
Called  back  in  1192  by  news  of  trouble  at  home,  he  fell  into 
the  power  of  his  enemy,  the  emperor  of  Germany,  and  for 
two  years  was  held  a  prisoner.  Released  at  last  on  the 
promise  of  paying  a  heavy  ransom,  he  made  his  way  to 
England  only  to  find  his  brother  John  in  open  revolt. 
But  John  was  far  too  unpopular  to  be  dangerous,  and 
order  was  soon  restored.  There  were  greater  dangers  to 
be  met  elsewhere,  however,  and  the  rest  of  his  reign  was 
spent  in  the  effort  to  secure  Normandy  against  the  attacks 
of  the  French  king.  In  1199  his  short  troubled  career  came 


Richard  I.    Cceur  de  Lion. 


Fusion  of  Races. 


81 


to  a  close  ;  he  was  struck  down  by  a  shot  from  a  castle  he 
was  besieging  in  Limousin,  and  he  lived  only  long  enough 
to  declare  John  his  heir,  and  to  cause  the  barons  to  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance. 

Richard's    share    in     the    constitutional 
achievements  of  his  reign  was  only  indirect. 
Known  in  history  and  romance  as  the  L  ion- 
Hearted,  the  chivalrous  soldier,  the  valiant 
crusader,  to  his  English  subjects  he  must 
have  appeared  a  needy  and  rather  greedy 
ruler  who  never  thought  of  England  except 
when  in  want  of  money.     Probably,  how- 
ever, he  conferred  on  the  country  the  greatest 
benefit  in  his  power  by  absenting  himself  on 
foreign   wars.       Richard 
was  a  warrior,  not  a 
statesman ;  he  could  not 
have    understood     his 
f  a  t  h  e  r '  s  methods,  and      Richard  I. 
had  he  remained  in  England  he  would 
only  have  interfered  in  the  development  The  work  of 
of  the  political  system  so  carefully  elab- 
orated  in  the  previous   reign.     In  his 
absence   the   government   was   in    the 
hands  of  such  men  as  Longchamp  and 
the   Archbishop   Hubert  Walter,  men 
trained  under  the  eye  of  the  late  king 
and  governed  by  the  traditions  of  his 
reign.    They  were  loyal  servants  of  the 
crown,  but  their  task  was  a  difficult  one, 
for  the  nation  was  becoming  restive  un- 
der the  increasingly  heavy  burden  of  taxation,  and  John,  as 
faithless  to  his  brother  as  he  was  to  his  father,  was  at  hand 
to  take  advantage  of  any  discontent.    To  meet  the  demand 


A  Crusader. 


82 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Richard's 
Ransom.    Aid 
on  the 
knights' 
fee.    Tallage 
on  towns. 
Hideage  and 
car  u  cage  on 
land  taking 
place  of  Dane- 
geld.    A  quar- 
ter of  the 
movables  of 
every  person 
in  the  realm. 


State  of  the 
country. 


Literature. 


of  the  king  for  money,  the  ministers  were  obliged  to  resort 
to  every  expedient.  Personal  property,  taxed  for  the  first 
time  in  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Second,  was  now  regularly 
assessed,  and  in  1194,  when  the  nation  was  called  upon  to 
pay  the  king's  ransom,  old  forms  of  taxes  were  revived 
and  new  ones  were  invented  ;  no  class  of  persons,  no  kind 
of  property,  was  allowed  to  escape.  It  was  in  part  because 
of  the  difficulty  of  assessing  personal  property,  and  partly 
from  a  wish  to  conciliate  the  people  that  the  assessment  of 
taxes  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  juries  elected  by  the  free- 
holders of  the  shire.  To  the  same  body  was  intrusted  at 
about  this  time  the  election  of  the  juries  of  presentment. 
Thus  the  principles  of  election  and  representation  were 
making  their  way  in  the  administrative  system,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  nation  was  receiving  in  matters  of  finance 
and  justice  a  training  in  self-government — the  necessary 
preparation  for  parliamentary  rule. 

SOCIAL  PROGRESS. 

The  England  which  Richard  passed  on  to  his  worthless 
brother  John  was  not  the  England  of  Norman  time.  Dur- 
ing the  half  century  that  had  elapsed  since  the  Treaty 
of  "Wallingford  a  new  nation  had  sprung  into  existence, 
a  nation  conscious  of  itself,  having  its  own  literature, 
knowing  its  common  interest.  Under  the  rule  of  the 
Angevin  the  differences  between  Norman  and  English- 
man had  well-nigh  disappeared.  The  Great  Charter, 
granted  in  the  next  reign,  takes  no  note  of  race  distinc- 
tions. The  court  still  used  French,  but  the  Norman  nobles 

r— ' ' 

had  begun  to  learn  the  language  of  the  subject  race,  and 
by  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  English  was 
the  generally  spoken  tongue.  Robert  of  Gloucester,  writing 
at  a  later  time,  voices  the  prevailing  sentiment  in  favor  of 
the  native  language,  in  his  indignant  protest  against  the 
practices  of  the  previous  period  : 


Fusion  of  J?aces.  83 


"  And  thus  could  the  Normans  speak  but  their  own  speech, 
They  spake  French,  as  at  home,  and  their  children  so  did  teach. 
So  that  the  high  men  of  this  land,  who  wear  the  Norman  look, 
Hold  all  to  that  speech,  that  they  from  their  fathers  took. 
For  save  a  man  know  French,  small  store  by  him  men  set. 
But  low  men  hold  to  English,  and  to  their  own  speech  yet. 
I  ween  in  all  the  world  that  there  be  countries  none, 
That  hold  not  to  their  own  speech,  save  England  alone." 

The  new  impulses  which  were  stirring  the  life  of  the 
people  found  expression  in  the  fresh,  vigorous  literary 
outburst  that  marked  the  close  of  the  century.  The  grow- 
ing national  feeling  was  reflected  in  the  work  of  Henry  of 
Huntington  and  William  of  Malmesbury,  who  brought 
together  the  ballads  and  war  songs  embodying  the  tradi- 
tions of  early  English  history.  In  their  writings  the  fire 
and  color  lent  by  Norman  influence  transformed  the  meager 
records  of  the  Saxon  chroniclers  into  a  full  and  entertaining 
narrative.  Even  more  marked  was  the  secular  tone  of  the 
new  literature.  It  smacks  of  the  court  rather  than  of  the 
cloister,  both  in  freedom  of  treatment  and  greater  fullness 
of  information.  Gerald  de  Barri,  writing  the  history 
of  Wales  and  Ireland,  proposed  to  tell  "  the  doings 
of  the  common  people,"  and  in  half  scornful  apology 
for  his  disregard  of  old  forms  adds,  "  new  times  re- 
quire new  fashions ;  it  is  better  to  be  dumb  than  not  to 
be  understood."  There  is  something  more  than  revolt 
against  narrow  ecclesiastical  tradition  in  the  attitude  of 
Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  who,  in  his  "History  of  the 
Britons,"  the  basis  of  the  legend  of  the  Table  Bound,  sets 
before  the  world  an  ideal  of  manhood  far  removed  from 
the  clerical  type.  Walter  de  Map  goes  a  step  further  in 
hostility  to  priestly  dominion  when,  in  the  "  Confessions 
of  Bishop  Goliath,"  he  holds  up  the  medieval  church  to 
the  scorn  of  his  age. 

But  even  more  truly  than  the  literature  did  the  uni- 
versities represent  the  stirring,  vigorous  spirit  of  the 


84 


Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  Universi- 
ties, Oxford 
and  Cam- 
bridge. 


It  is  stated 
that  the  stu- 
dents at  Ox- 
ford num- 
bered 30,000. 


The  Towns. 


time.  Oxford,  emancipated  from  the  narrow  traditions  of 
the  cloister,  was  now  a  school  of  European  fame.  The 
dark  lecture  rooms  were  crowded  with  students  who 
flocked  hither  from  all  corners  of  the  kingdom.  Here 
every  movement  that  stirred  the  political  and  ecclesiastical 
world  first  found  expression,  and  in  the  narrow  streets 
were  fought  out  the  questions  of  the  day.  "  When  Oxford 
draws  knife,  England's  soon  at  strife,"  ran  a  popular  say- 
ing. It  was  Oxford  that 
led  in  the  revolt  against 
the  intellectual  tyranny 
and  the  spiritual  corrupt- 
ness of  the  Church.  That 
wider  sympathy,  which 
overleaped  the  bounds  set 
by  narrow  provincial  jeal- 
ousy, and  included  the 
whole  world  in  its  view, 
was  the  outgrowth  of  this 
intercourse  between  men  of 
all  classes  and  all  nations  ; 
and  it  was  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  schools,  where  intellect, 
not  birth,  was  the  measure  of  each  man's  position,  that  a 
free  democratic  spirit  first  manifested  itself. 

Town  and  university  were  widely  separated  in  ideals 
and  interests,  but  the  one  no  less  than  the  other  furthered 
the  growth  of  a  spirit  of  freedom  and  of  sturdy  self- 
dependence.  Throughout  the  twelfth  century  the  towns 
were  moving  steadily  toward  municipal  freedom,  Lon- 
don always  in  the  lead,  and  the  lesser  towns  making 
the  rights  which  it  had  secured  the  goal  of  their  efforts. 
By  the  close  of  the  century  the  struggle  for  self-govern- 
ment was  practically  complete.  Most  of  the  towns  had 
gained  charters  which  gave  them  their  own  courts  of 


Seal  of  Richard  I. 


Fusion  of  Races.  85 


justice,  and  the  right  of  controlling  local  trade.  They 
were  also  permitted  to  pay  their  taxes  in  a  lump  sum  into 
the  royal  treasury,  assessing  and  collecting  their  dues 
themselves.  The  larger  towns,  moreover,  were  beginning 
to  acquire  the  right  of  choosing  their  own  chief  officer, 
the  mayor  or  reeve,  until  now  nominated  by  the  crown. 
The  commercial  privileges  granted  were  usually  very  ex- 
tensive. By  the  ordinary  form  of  charter,  trade  was  to  be 
"quit  and  free  from  all  tolls,  dues,  and  customs  at  fairs 
or  otherwise,  in  all  harbors  throughout  all  my  dominions, 
both  by  the  hither  side  and  the  further  side  of  the  sea,  by 
laud  and  by  strand." 

In  their  efforts  to  gain  the  privilege  of  self-government, 
the  towns  were  aided  by  the 
necessities    of  the  king  and 
nobles,  who  were  often  in  sore 
straits  to  meet  the  expense  of 
their    crusading    enterprises, 
and  were  glad  to  yield  some 
liberty  or  exemption  in  return 
for  ready  money.    Each  right 
gained  was  a  matter  of  bar- 
gain.    Rye  and  Winchelsey  A  M°™te<l  Knight, 
secured  their  charters  from  Richard  by  supplying  him  with 
two  ships  for  one  of  his  expeditions,  and,  a  little  later, 
Portsmouth  obtained  the  same  much-coveted  possession  by 
paying  part  of  the  royal  ransom. 

A  more  important  factor  in  the   emancipation  of  the 

The  Merchant 

towns  than  the  Crusades  was  the  influence  of  the  merchant  Gild- 
gilds.  With  the  development  of  commerce  and  industry  un- 
der Henry  and  Richard,  trade  had  become  the  ruling  inter- 
est in  the  towns,  and  the  merchant  classes  the  most  power- 
ful element  in  the  life  of  the  community.  Their  associations 
were  originally  formed  merely  to  control  the  trade  of  the 


86  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

place  or  to  secure  purely  commercial  privileges,  such  as  the 
right  of  holding  a  fair  or  exemption  from  paying  toll,  but, 
including  as  they  did  the  influential  men  of  the  com- 
munity, and  strong  through  effective  organization,  they 
naturally  took  the  lead  in  wringing  from  the  crown  judicial 
immunity  or  political  power.  Almost  every  town  and  even 
village  possessed  a  gild,  and  it  was  here  that  the  stir- 
ring, vigorous  life  of  the  community  centered.  Each  gild 
had  its  hall  where  meetings  were  held  to  make  rules  by 
which  honest  trade  might  be  secured,  and  non-gildsmen 
kept  from  sharing  in  the  traffic  of  the  place.  Moreover  the 
gild  was  in  truth  a  brotherhood,  concerning  itself  with  the 
whole  life  of  its  members,  caring  for  those  who  were  sick, 
and  admonishing  those  who  had  fallen  on  evil  ways. 

As  yet  there  was  little  freedom  of  commercial  inter- 
course, protection  and  monopoly  were  the  watchwords  of 
the  merchant  world  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  trade  was 
shackled  by  many  fetters.  Business  honor  forbade  meth- 
ods now  looked  upon  as  entirely  legitimate,  for  example, 
forestalling,  or  buying  up  at  a  distance  in  order  to  sell  at  a 
higher  price  in  the  home  market,  and  engrossing,  or  buy- 
ing at  a  season  of  plenty  to  hold  over  until  a  time  when 
the  goods  were  dear. 

The  great  event  in  the  life  of  the  town  was  the  yearly 
charter  by  fair>  and  the  ri£ht  of  holding  it  was  dearly  prized.  The 
great  fair  of  Stourbridge,  a  few  miles  from  Cambridge,  was 
known  throughout  Europe.  It  was  held  in  September  and, 
for  days  before  it  opened,  the  roads  were  blocked  by  wagons 
laden  with  wares  from  every  part  of  the  world.  In  the 
crowded  ways  of  the  improvised  market,  merchants  from 
Genoa,  bringing  rich  silks  and  jewelry,  jostled  the  Flemish 
manufacturers  with  their  treasures  of  holland  and  fine 
linen,  and  the  home  traders  displayed  with  pride  their 
stores  of  wool,  side  by  side  with  the  fur  and  amber  from 


Fusion  of  Races.  87 


the  Hanse  towns  of  the  Baltic.  The  narrow  ways  were 
thronged  with  men  of  all  classes  and  every  clime,  trades- 
man and  noble,  soldier  and  priest,  each  intent  on  displaying 
his  wares  or  laying  in  his  winter  stores.  For  three  weeks 
the  fair  went  on,  and  daily  the  mayor  sat  at  his  court  "of 
the  dusty  feet "  to  give  justice  between  disputing  wayfarers, 
and  on  Sunday  some  monk  from  the  neighboring  priory 
said  mass  in  the  chapel  that  still  stands  near  the  spot  where 
the  fair  was  held.  Between  the  chaffering,  men  discussed 
the  questions  of  the  hour,  gave  voice  to  the  prevailing 
discontent,  and  laid  plans  which  sometimes  ripened  into 
revolutionary  action. 


CHAPTER   V. 

STRUGGLE  FOB  THE  CHARTER. 

Illustrative  Readings.  Reign  of  Henry  III.,  1216-1272. 

King  John ;  Shakespeare.  1232,  Personal  Rule  of  Henry. 

Stephen  Langton ;  Maurice.  1258,  Provisions  of  Oxford. 

Simon  de  Montfort;  Pauli.  1265,  Battle  of  Evesham. 

Edward  the  First ;  Tout.  ReigQ  Qf  Edward  L>  1272-1307. 

Important  Dates.  1282,  Conquest  of  Wales. 

Reign  of  John,  1199-1216.  1295,  The  Model  Parliament. 

1204,  Loss  of  Normandy.  1297,  Confirmation  of  the  Char- 

1206,  Election  of  Stephen  Lang-  ters. 

ton.  1305,  Temporary  Submission  of 

1215,  The  Great  Charter.  Scotland. 

JOHN. 

"  Foul  as  it  is,  hell  itself  is  defiled  by  the  fouler  presence 
of  John."  This  was  the  judgment  of  his  own  time  on  the 
disloyal  youngest  son  of  Henry  II.  Faithless  to  every 
trust,  stained  with  every  crime,  John  stands  out  as  the 
most  vicious  and  worthless  of  all  the  English  kings. 
From  first  to  last  his  life  offers  not  one  redeeming  trait,  not 
one  saving  act.  And  yet  he  had  much  of  the  ability  of 
his  house,  together  with  an  extraordinary  power  of  win- 
ning the  love  of  men.  But  he  used  his  power  over  others 
only  to  their  undoing,  and  the  achievements  of  his  un- 
doubted force  and  talent  were  rendered  vain  by  the  base- 
ness of  his  nature. 

The  reign  of  John  falls  naturally  into  three  periods,  each 
ending  in  crushing  defeat  and  humiliation  ;  in  the  first, 
interest  centered  in  the  wars  with  Philip  of  France  ;  during 
the  second,  the  king  was  carrying. on  his  unequal  contest 
with  Rome,  and  the  last  was  occupied  with  the  events  that 
turned  upon  the  granting  of  Magna  Charta. 


Struggle  for  the  Charter. 


89 


John's  claim  to  succeed  his  brother  met  with  no  opposi-  LOSS  of  por- 
tion in  England,  but  on  the  Continent  he  was  confronted 
with  a  dangerous  rival  in  his  nephew  Arthur  of  Brittany, 
who  found  a  ready  supporter  in  the  French  king.  How- 
ever, Philip  and  Arthur  soon  quarreled.  In  Eleanor,  his 
mother,  John  had  a  wise  and  experienced  counselor,  and 
within  a  few  months  he  was  master  of  all  his  continental 
possessions.  But  he  misused  his  good  fortune.  Accused, 
and  probably  with  justice,  of  the  murder  of  his  nephew 
Arthur,  he  gave  Philip  a  chance  to  interfere, 
and  Normandy  was  invaded  by  a  French 
army.  The  barons,  outraged  and  insulted  by 
John,  refused  to  rise  in  his  behalf ;  town  after 
town  opened  its  doors  to  Philip,  and  by  1203 
he  was  in  possession  of  the  province.  A  year 
later  John's  rule  was  limited  to  the  lands 
south  of  the  Garonne.  That  the  work  of 
Henry  II.  on  the  Continent  was  so  soon  un- 
done was  due  largely  to  John's  utter  worth- 
lessness,  but  the  ease  with  which  Normandy 
and  Maine  became  a  part  of  France  showed 
how  impossible  was  the  idea  of  an  Anglo- 
Angevin  empire.  To  England  the  loss  of 
the  French  provinces  was  an  event  of  far-  King  John, 
reaching  importance.  The  barons  were  compelled  to  choose  Normandy 
between  Normandy  and  England,  and  in  choosing  England 
they  became  for  the  first  time  wholly  English  in  sympathy 
and  in  interest.  For  the  first  time,  too,  since  the  Conquest, 
king  and  people  were  brought  face  to  face.  It  was  well 
perhaps  for  English  freedom  that  just  at  the  hour  when  the 
power  of  the  crown  was  becoming  dangerous,  the  throne 
should  be  occupied  by  a  man  whose  crimes  would  make 
that  power  hateful  to  the  people. 

The  death  of  Queen   Eleanor,  John's  wise  and  shrewd 


90  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

The  quarrel        counselor,  was  followed  by  defeat  in  France,  and  when 
churchhc  in  1205  the  kinS  lost  in  Hubert  Walter,  Archbishop  of 

Canterbury,  his  most  faithful  and  fearless  servant,  he 
at  once  plunged  into  a  quarrel  with  Rome,  which  ended 
in  complete  humiliation.  The  "difficulty  arose  out  of  the 
question  of  choosing  Walter's  successor,  both  king  and 
chapter  claiming  it  as  their  privilege.  John  was  probably 
in  the  right,  the  power  of  the  crown  to  nominate  to  the  see 
of  Canterbury  had  been  conceded  even  by  Anselm,  but  he 
spoilt  his  cause  by  his  unreasoning  violence.  Unable  to 
come  to  an  agreement  among  themselves,  all  parties  at 
length  concluded  to  carry  the  matter  before  the  Roman 
Curia.  Pope  Innocent  decided  the  question  by  rejecting 
both  candidates  and  causing  his  own  man  to  be  chosen. 
In  this  he  probably  thought  chiefly  of  advancing  the  inter- 
ests of  Rome,  but,  by  nominating  Stephen  Langton,  he  gave 
to  England  an  able  and  disinterested  leader  in  the  coming 
struggle  for  freedom.  The  pope's  decision  was  resisted  by 
John,  and  he  refused  to  admit  the  new  archbishop  to  his 
see.  Threat  he  met  by  counter  threat ;  if  Innocent  should 
lay  the  realm  under  an  interdict,  he  would  banish  the  clergy 
and  seize  their  goods.  But  Innocent  did  not  draw  back, 
and  in  1208  the  interdict  fell.  "  All  worship  save  that  of  a 
few  privileged  orders,  all  administration  of  sacraments  save 
that  of  baptism,  ceased  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
country ;  the  church  bells  were  silent,  the  dead  lay  un- 
buried  on  the  ground,  many  of  the  bishops  fled  from  the 
country."  Still  John  did  not  yield,  but  made  good  his 
threats  by  subjecting  the  clergy  to  every  outrage.  In  1209, 
the  pope  struck  at  the  king  personally  by  excommuni- 
cating him,  but  John  met  the  excommunication  with 
scorn.  He  feared  only  men,  and,  hated  as  he  was,  he 
was  still  too  strong  to  be  openly  defied.  There  was  but  one 
weapon  left  the  pope,  and  the  time  was  come  to  use  it,  un- 


Struggle  for  the  Charter.  91 

less  he  was  to  confess  himself  beaten.  In  1212,  he  issued  a 
bull  deposing  the  king,  absolving  his  subjects  from  their 
allegiance  and  calling  upon  the  French  king  to  ex- 
ecute the  decree.  Even  yet,  John  might  have  proved  a 
match  for  the  greatest  of  the  popes  had  he  not  suddenly 
found  himself  confronted  by  a  more  formidable  danger 
close  at  hand. 

Throughout  his  reign  John  had  defied  and  oppressed  the  submission 
baronage.  He  had  seized  their  castles  and  held  their  to  Rome- 
children  as  hostages.  Illegal  and  burdensome  enactions 
had  been  followed  by  repeated  demands  for  service  and 
scutage.  Moreover,  there  was  scarcely  one  among  them 
but  had  some  personal  grounds  for  complaint.  Their 
long  endurance  of  John's  tyranny  bears  witness  to  the 
strength  which  Henry's  reforms  had  given  the  crown,  but 
in  secret  the  barons  were  united  against  the  king,  and  it 
was  the  discovery  of  their  conspiracies  with  Philip  at  this 
juncture  that  forced  him  to  yield.  His  decision  was 
quickly  made.  His  present  position  was  hopeless,  but 
with  the  pope  as  an  ally  he  could  defy  the  rest  of  his 
foes.  On  the  15th  of  May  he  knelt  before  the  papal  legate 
at  JEwell,  and,  surrendering  his  realm  to  the  pope,  received 
it  back  to  hold  as  a  vassal  of  the  see  of  Rome. 

John  and  the  pope  were  friends,  but  the  English  Church  Ki&in£  of 
still  stood  aloof,  and,  for  the  first  time  since  the  Conquest,  the  Baronage, 
the  crown  was  without  the  support  of  the  clergy.  The  mo- 
ment was  critical,  for  the  ecclesiastical  quarrel  was  followed 
at  once  by  an  outbreak  of  the  barons.  The  smouldering 
resentment  had  at  last  burst  into  open  revolt.  To  the 
accumulation  of  long-standing  grievances  was  added  a  new 
one  in  John's  demand  that  his  vassals  should  follow  him 
in  the  expedition  he  was  planning  for  the  recovery  of 
France.  On  all  sides  he  met  with  determined  opposition. 
They  would  serve  him  within  the  four  seas,  they  said,  but 


92  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

they  would  not  cross  the  Channel.  The  baronage  had 
hitherto  lacked  a  leader,  but  the  pope  had  unwittingly 
given  them  one  in  Stephen  Langton  who,  ever  since  his 
arrival  in  England,  had  been  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  re- 
strain the  king  from  despotic  measures.  Now,  with  true 
statesmanship,  he  came  forward  to  give  the  nation  the 
necessary  basis  for  action.  In  a  meeting 
of  the  barons,  held  at  St.  Paul's,  he  dis- 
played the  half  forgotten  charter  of  Henry 
I.,  and  proposed  that  it  should  be  presented 
to  the  king  as  expressing  the  terms  which 
he  had  promised  to  keep.  John  met  the 
claim  with  delay.  He  was  about  to  start 
on  the  expedition  to  France,  from  which 
he  hoped  much.  During  the  next  few 
months  the  fate  of  England  trembled  in 
the  balance ;  had  John  returned  victorious 
the  rebellious  barons  would  have  had  no 
chance ;  his  overwhelming  defeat  at  Bou- 
vines  gave  the  signal  for  the  triumph  of 
English  freedom.  Matters  at  once  came  to 
a  crisis  at  home.  The  northern  barons 
Military  Costume.  took  the  lead  in  resistance,  but  one  by 
one  the  others  deserted  the  losing  cause  of  the  crown, 
until  when  they  appeared  before  him  in  January,  1215,  to 
present  their  demands,  only  his  ministers  and  a  few  princes 
of  royal  blood  still  remained  faithful  to  John.  Neverthe- 
less he  met  their  demand  for  the  old  liberties  with  obsti- 
nate refusal.  "  Why  do  they  not  ask  me  for  my  kingdom?" 
he  cried.  "  I  will  never  grant  such  liberties  as  will  make 
me  a  slave,"  and  he  strove  to  divide  opposition  by  detach- 
ing the  Church  from  the  constitutional  party  with  offers  of 
privilege  and  freedom.  But  in  vain ;  the  nation  stood 
firm  and  John  was  forced  to  bow  to  necessity.  On  June 


Struggle  for  the  Charter.  93 

15,  1215,  he  met  his  outraged  vassals  at  Runnymede  by 
the  Thames,  and  made  full  submission  in  setting  his  seal  to 
the  charter  of  liberties  which  they  laid  before  him. 

The  first  step  in  the  struggle  for  popular  liberty  was  won.   The  Great 
"  The  maintenance  of  the  charter  becomes  henceforth  the   For  text  of 
watchword  of  English  freedom."     In  form  it  is  a  royal  oi<?SoutShe 


gene 

from  the  king  by  his  bishops  and  barons.  It  contains  little 
that  is  absolutely  new,  but  it  expresses  with  exactness  what 
before  was  undefined.  Thoroughly  English  in  spirit,  there 
is  no  statement  of  abstract  rights  ;  everything  is  thrown 
into  a  concrete,  practical  form.  Some  of  the  provisions 
limit  the  power  of  the  king  over  his  vassals,  others  protect 
the  villein  against  his  lord.  To  the  Church  are  secured  its 
ancient  liberties  ;  to  the  towns,  their  newly  bought  privi- 
leges. The  care  with  which  the  interests  of  the  merchants 
are  protected  shows  the  increasing  importance  of  trade. 
In  words  which  underlie  our  whole  judicial  system  the 
right  of  justice  is  secured.  "We  will  not  go  against  any 
man,  nor  send  against  him  save  by  the  legal  judgment  of 
his  peers,  or  by  the  law  of  the  land.  To  none  will  we  sell 
or  deny  or  delay  right  or  justice."  Among  the  most  im- 
portant articles  are  the  two  which  limit  the  power  of  the 
king  in  matters  of  taxation.  "  No  scutage  or  aid  shall  be 
imposed  in  our  kingdom  unless  by  the  general  council  of 
our  kingdom,"  and  just  below,  "For  the  holding  the 
general  council  of  the  kingdom  we  shall  cause  to  be  sum- 
moned the  bishops  and  greater  barons,  singly,  and  all 
others  who  hold  of  us  in  chief  by  our  sheriffs  generally." 
No  interest,  no  class,  was  overlooked.  In  terms,  the  pro- 
visions by  which  freedom  was  to  be  secured  were  ample, 
but  how  ensure  their  fulfillment,  how  control  a  king 
whom  no  oath  could  bind  ?  By  the  charter  itself  it  was 
decreed  that  a  council  of  twenty-five  barons  should  be 


94 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  Pope  an- 
nuls the  Char- 
ter. 


The  minority 
of  Henry. 


chosen  to  enforce  its  provisions.  "They  have  given  me 
five-and-twenty  over-kings,"  cried  John  in  rage,  and  he 
at  once  turned  to  seek  a  way  of  evasion. 

The  next  four  months  were  a  period  of  anarchy.  The 
pope  with  little  comprehension  of  the  question  at  issue  ab- 
solved John  from  his  oath,  and  recalled  Langton  to  Rome. 
The  barons  again  took  up  arms.  Without  a  leader  and  divi- 
ded among  themselves,  they  could  do  little,  and  for  a  time 
John  swept  all  before  him.  But  Philip's  opportunity  had 
come.  He  renewed  his  intrigues  with  the  English  barons 
and  finally  at  their  request  sent  his  son  at  the  head  of  an 
army  into  the  country.  At  once  the  tide  turned,  the 
French  mercenaries  refused  to  fight  against  their  king,  and 
John's  cause  was  already  lost  when  he  died  suddenly,  worn 
out  in  mind  and  body. 

HENRY  III. 

The  death  of  John  changed  the  whole  aspect  of  affairs. 
A  large  part  of  the  country  was  in  the  hands  of  the  in- 
surgents, but  the  one  bond  of  union  among  them  was 
their  common  hatred  of  John  ;  John  dead,  differences  of 
opinion  became  manifest,  national  pride  reasserted  itself, 
and  the  coalition  showed  signs  of  breaking  up.  Neverthe- 
less England  might  yet  have  passed  under  the  rule  of  the 
foreigner  had  it  not  been  for  the  patriotic  action  of  the  Earl 
of  Pembroke,  the  greatest  of  the  barons.  Aided  by  Gualo, 
the  papal  legate,  who  rightly  appreciated  the  situation,  he 
caused  Henry,  the  young  son  of  John,  to  be  crowned  king, 
reissued  the  charter,  thus  detaching  many  of  the  barons 
from  the  French  party,  and  by  his  vigorous  efforts  suc- 
ceeded in  obliging  Louis  to  withdraw  his  forces. 

The  following  years  were  occupied  in  reestablishing  the 
government.  In  the  minority  of  the  young  king,  Pem- 
broke acted  as  regent  until  his  death  in  1219,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  the  justiciar,  Hubert  de  Burgh,  who  continued 


Struggle  for  the  Charter.  95 

his  work,  carrying  on  the  administration  according  to  the 
principles  of  the  Charter.  De  Burgh's  efforts  to  give  to 
England  sound  government  were  complicated  by  the  pres- 
ence of  foreigners,  the  former  supporters  of  John,  and 
by  the  reappearance  of  the  old  feudal  spirit  of  lawless- 
ness among  the  barons,  and  also  by  one  or  two  attempts 
of  Rome  to  interfere.  But  the  justiciar  succeeded  in  ex- 
pelling the  foreigners,  and,  by  reoccupying  the  royal  castles, 
put  a  check  on  the  barons,  and  Langton  crowned  his  ser- 
vices to  the  cause  of  constitutional  freedom  by  obtaining 
the  papal  promise  that  during  his  lifetime  no  Roman  legate 
should  be  sent  to  England.  These  years  of  Henry's  minor- 
ity were  a  period  of  quiet  national  growth,  of  awakening 
political  consciousness,  of  spiritual  and  moral  regeneration; 
to  priest  and  layman  alike  it  was  a  tune  of  training  for  the 
work  to  come. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  the  political  power  of  the  The  Church, 
papacy  was  boundless,  but  secular  interests  had  been  se- 
cured at  the  expense  of  spiritual  influence,  and  men  were 
turning  away  from  a  Church  controlled  by  worldly  am- 
bitions and  considerations  of  material  advantage.  In 
England  resistance  to  the  authority  of  a  political  Church 
was  strengthened  by  the  national  hostility  to  papal  inter- 
ference. "The  pope  has  no  part  in  secular  matters," 
was  the  defiant  answer  of  London  to  the  interdict  of 
Honorius.  Nor  was  the  condition  of  the  English  clergy 
more  satisfactory.  Despite  the  part  they  had  taken  in 
the  struggle  with  John,  they  no  longer  commanded  the 
respect  of  the  people  ;  political  activity  could  not  make 
amends  for  the  lack  of  spirituality  which  marked  both 
monk  and  priest. 

To  recall  the  clergy  to  its  work,  to  bring  men  again  into  xhe  Friars, 
the  fold  of  the  Church,  was  the  aim  of  the  two  great  orders 
that  suddenly  sprang  into  existence  at  about  the  beginning 


96 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  Friars  and 
the  Univer- 
sities. 


of  the  century.  Inspired  with  fiery  zeal  and  tireless  en- 
thusiasm, the  followers  of  the  fierce  Castilian  Dominic  and 
the  saintly  Francis  d'Assisi  wandered  through  Europe, 
attacking  the  corruptness  of  the  clergy,  combating  the 
heresies  of  the  age,  seeking  to  reclaim  the  poor  and  out- 
cast. They  turned  to  the  towns,  neglected  by  the  older 
orders,  and  there  in  the  thick  of  the  crowd,  in  market 
place  and  fair,  they  preached  the  way  of  life  in  words  that 
the  common  people  could  understand,  driving  home  each 
truth  with  apt  anecdote  and  illustration  drawn  from  the 
world  of  nature  or  from  the  daily  lives 
of  those  to  whom  they  spoke.  The 
Black  Friars,  as  the  disciples  of  Dom- 
inic were  called,  reached  England  in 
1221,  and  a  few  years  later  they  were 
followed  by  the  Gray  Friars,  or  Fran- 
ciscans. Their  coming  worked  a  revo- 
A  Friar.  lution  in  the  life  of  the  nation.  The 

indifference  of  the  laity  and  the  hostility  of  the  clergy 
were  not  proof  against  their  ardor  and  devotion  ;  they 
aroused  the  Church  to  a  new  sense  of  its  duties,  and  stirred 
the  hearts  of  the  people  to  a  higher,  more  vigorous  life. 
Grosseteste,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  writing  of  the  friars  to 
Pope  Gregory,  said  :  "  O  that  your  holiness  could  see  how 
devoutly  the  people  run  to  confess  their  sins,  how  much 
profit  the  clergy  and  monks  take  from  imitation  of  them." 
Less  satisfactory  were  the  results  of  their  influence  upon 
the  intellectual  life  that  centered  in  the  universities.  At 
first,  with  rigid  interpretation  of  their  vow  of  poverty, 
they  denied  themselves  all  books.  "  I  am  your  breviary,  I 
am  your  breviary,"  was  the  answer  of  Francis  to  a  request 
for  a  psalter.  But  the  tremendous  interest  aroused  by  their 
popular,  dramatic  preaching  forced  them  to  the  study  of 
theology,  and  within  a  short  time  they  were  firmly  estab- 


Struggle  for  the  Charter. 


97 


lished  at  Oxford.  Under  the  inspiration  of  their  presence 
the  schools  were  crowded  with  eager  thousands,  but  the 
free  spirit  of  the  last  century  no  longer  ruled,  the  interest 
in  science  and  literature  died  out  before  the  irresistible  bent 
of  the  time  toward  scholastic  theology.  Roger  Bacon,  first 
of  English  scientists,  and  last  and  greatest  representative  of 
the  wider  culture  of  the  preceding  century,  bears  witness  in 
his  writings  to  the  changed  temper  of  his  University  of  Ox- 
ford. For  forty  years  he  labored  to  arouse  men  to  an  inter- 
est in  the  wide  world  of  knowledge  outside  the  narrow 
scholastic  bounds,  and  in  the  end  he  was,  as  he  himself 
wrote,  "unheard,  forgotten,  buried." 

Under  the  influence  of  the  schoolmen,  the  intellectual  Their  poiiticai 
life  of  the  nation  became  narrow  and  unproductive,  but   teachin«8- 
the  effect  of  their  teachings  on  the  political  thought  of 
the  time  was  strong  and  invigorating.    Their  sympathies 
were  with  the  people,  and  in  lecture  and  open  air  sermon 
they  developed  a 
theory  of  govern- 
ment which  made 
short  work  with 
the  claims  of  the 
king   to  the   un- 
questioning   obe- 
dience of  his  sub- 
jects.  "All  things 
are  lawful  to  the 


Ancient  Wrestling. 


king  for  the  government  of  his  realm,  but  nothing  is  law- 
ful to  him  for  its  destruction."  "  Let  the  community  of 
the  realm  advise,  and  let  it  be  known  what  the  generality 
to  whom  their  laws  are  best  known,  think  on  the  matter." 
"  It  concerns  the  community  to  see  what  sort  of  men 
ought  justly  to  be  chosen  for  the  weal  of  the  realm." 
With  such  words  as  these  they  roused  their  hearers  to  a 


98  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

just  sense  of  the  duties  of  the  king  and  the  rights  of  the 
nation,  and  under  their  inspiration  town  and  university 
stood  firm  in  support  of  the  cause  of  freedom  in  the  com- 
ing struggle  with  the  crown.  The  contest  with  royal  mis- 
rule, which  filled  the  later  years  of  Henry's  reign,  is  called 
the  Barons'  War,  but  it  was  the  consciousness  that  behind 
them  stood  a  nation  that  nerved  the  barons  to  rise  against 
the  king. 

The  misrule  ^n  1^7'  Henry  declared  himself  of  age,  and  from  this 

of  Henry.  time  jjis  character  tells  upon  the  events  of  the  period. 

Deeply  religious,  moral,  refined,  he  had  few  of  the  vices  of 
his  father,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  had  little  of  the 
force  and  political  capacity  that  had  marked  his  house 
heretofore.  Vacillating  and  weak,  he  showed  himself 
throughout  his  reign  incapable  of  either  fulfilling  the 
wishes  of  his  subjects  or  carrying  out  a  vigorous  policy  of 
his  own.  His  rule  was  characterized  by  misgovernment 
at  home  and  inefficiency  abroad.  To  restore  the  absolute 
power  of  the  crown  he  turned  his  ministers  out  of  office, 
filling  their  places  with  clerks  or  men  dependent  upon 
himself.  Again  the  nation  groaned  under  the  rule  of 
foreigners,  relatives  or  favorites  of  the  king.  In  their 
hands  were  placed  the  royal  castles  and  the  high  offices, 
the  defense  and  administration  of  the  realm,  on  them 


Bowling.    Thirteenth  Century. 


Struggle  for  the  Charter. 


99 


was  squandered  one  sixth  the  royal  revenue.  Extravagant 
and  wasteful,  the  king  was  ever  in  need  and  ever  demand- 
ing supplies,  and  his  debts  amounted  to  more  than  four 
times  his  annual  income.  Every  expedient  to  fill  the 
treasury  was  now  used.  Offices  were  sold,  loans  were 
wrung  from  the  great  nobles,  clergy  and  laity  alike  were 
called  upon  for  new  and  burdensome  supplies.  The  weight 
of  taxation  was  increased  by  the  king's  foreign  expeditions. 
An  attempt  to  recover  Poitou  ended  only  in  failure  and 
disgrace,  and  renewed  demands  for  aid.  The  national 
pride  was  outraged,  the  national  purse  depleted. 

But  not  by  the  king  alone  was  the  unhappy  realm  plun-  The  Pope 
dered  and  pillaged.  Ever  since  the  time  of  John,  the  pope  and  En«land- 
had  looked  upon  England  as  a  vassal 
kingdom  bound  to  supply  the  needs  of 
the  papal  see.  Large  sums  were  ex- 
acted from  the  clergy,  and  many  of  the 
best  livings  of  the  Church  were  be- 
stowed on  Italians.  In  1252,  Grosseteste 
declared  that  the  pope's  nominees  drew 
from  the  realm  revenues  three  times  as 
great  as  the  royal  income.  Clergy  and 
laity  alike  resisted  the  spoliations  of 
Rome,  and  appealed  to  the  king  for 
protection,  but  in  vain  ;  both  devout- 
ness  and  personal  gratitude  bound 
Henry  to  the  pope.  Self-interest,  too, 
led  him  to  connive  at  the  papal  ex- 
actions in  return  for  papal  support  in 
his  dealings  with  his  subjects. 

Throughout  the  whole  trying  time 
the  murmuring  grew  louder ;  the  de- 
mand for  supplies  was  sometimes  met 


Henry  III. 


by  angry  expostulations.    On  one  occasion  the  council  de- 


100 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Discontent  of 
the  nation. 


Simon  de 
Monttort. 


clared  in  words  that  sum  up  the  long  list  of  grievances  "that 
it  would  be  unworthy  of  them  and  injurious,  to  allow  a  king 
who  was  so  easily  led  astray,  who  had  never  repulsed  nor 
frightened  even  the  least  of  the  enemies  of  his  kingdom, 
who  had  never  extended  the  borders  of  his  realm,  but  had 
contracted  it  and  brought  it  under  the  rule  of  foreigners,  to 
so  often  extort  so  much  money  from  them,  his  natural  sub- 
jects, as  though  they  were  slaves  of  the  lowest  degree." 
Over  and  over  again  they  attempted  to  bind  the  king 
through  renewals  of  the  Charter  purchased  at  a  heavy 
price,  but  in  vain.  "  The  king  breaks  everything,  the  laws, 
his  good  faith,  and  his  promises,"  wrote  Matthew  Paris,  last 
of  the  monastic  historians.  The  council,  now  beginning 
to  be  known  as  Parliament,  acting  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Charter,  endeavored  to  put  a  check  on  royal  exactions,  and 
on  one  occasion  refused  the  request  for  a  subsidy.  In  1244 
an  attempt  was  made  to  secure  the  appointment  of  officials 
to  be  held  responsible  to  Parliament,  and  to  act  in  all  ad- 
ministrative matters.  The  innovation  was  too  great  to  find 
ready  acceptance,  but  it  indicated  the  advance  the  nation 
was  making  in  the  conception  of  self-government.  Still 
more  important  was  the  appearance  in  the  great  council 
in  1254  of  knights  of  the  shire,  representative  men,  sum- 
moned to  report  on  the  amount  of  aid  which  the  shires 
were  willing  to  give.  Little  apparently  was  achieved,  and 
yet  throughout  these  dreary  years,  marked  only  by  greed 
unsatisfied,  by  wrongs  unredressed,  the  form  and  spirit 
of  constitutional  rule  were  taking  shape.  Slowly  men  were 
learning  the  identity  of  national  interest,  still  more  slowly 
the  need  of  united  national  action.  That  action  was  so 
long  delayed,  was  due  in  part  to  a  certain  apathy  in  the 
nation,  but  still  more  to  lack  of  a  leader. 

Among   the   swarm   of  hated    foreigners   was   a   man 
who  was  soon   to  stand  forth  as  the  chief  opponent  of 


Struggle  for  the  Charter.  101 

Henry  and  his  misrule.  Simon  de  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leices- 
ter and  brother-in-law  of  the  king,  was  Norman  by  birth 
and  training.  At  first  he  was  scarcely  distinguishable 
among  the  foreign  favorites  at  the  court,  but  by  1244  he  had 
ranged  himself  definitely  on  the  side  of  the  baronial  party. 
During  the  years  that  followed  he  was  much  abroad  on 
public  business.  In  1253  he  returned  to  England  and  at 
once  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  English  baronage. 
It  is  not  easy  to  understand  the  true  character  of  Simon  de 
Montfort,  nor  to  mark  the  steps  by  which  the  foreign  favor- 
ite was  transformed  into  the  English  patriot.  Even  to  the 
men  of  his  own  time  his  character  and  career  seemed  full  of 
contradictions.  Generous  and  high-spirited,  he  was  also 
overbearing  and  impatient  of  opposition.  Firm  and  constant 
in  his  purpose  and  loyalty,  it  is  yet  difficult  to  free  him  from 
the  reproach  of  ambition.  But  whatever  his  faults,  he  gave 
England  the  guidance  and  inspiration  she  needed,  and  ad- 
vanced her  far  on  the  road  toward  constitutional  freedom. 

In  1258  matters  came  to  a  crisis.      Misled   by    foolish  „ 

The  Provisions 
ambition,  Henry  had  consented  to  become  the  tool  of  the  of  Oxford. 

pope  in  his  quarrels  with  the  House  of  Hohenstaufen,  and 
had  pledged  England  to  repay  the  sums  necessary  for 
carrying  on  the  war.  The  patience  of  the  country  was  at 
last  exhausted,  and  the  king's  demands  for  aid  were  met 
by  open  revolt.  Under  the  lead  of  Leicester,  the  barons 
appeared  in  arms  before  the  king  and  demanded  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  committee  to  carry  out  a  work  of  reform. 
Unable  to  resist,  Henry  conceded  all  that  was  asked,  and 
with  his  son  Edward  swore  to  observe  the  articles  drawn 
up  by  the  barons  in  the  Parliament  of  Oxford.  By  the 
new  scheme  the  government  was  taken  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  king  and  given  to  three  committees  made  up  of  barons. 
It  was  an  awkward  and  cumbersome  device,  sure  to  break 
down  of  its  own  weight. 


102 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  Barons' 
War. 


The  Parlia- 
ment of  1265. 


For  seven  years  longer  the  contest  continued.  A  breach 
soon  appeared  between  Leicester  and  the  majority  of  the 
barons.  They  feared  his  ambition  and  he  accused  them 
of  treachery,  "With  such  feeble  and  faithless  men  I 
care  not  to  have  aught  to  do  ! "  Henry  was  not  slow 
to  take  advantage  of  the  dissensions  among  his  assailants, 
and  in  1261  he  induced  the  pope  to  absolve  him  from  his 
oath.  His  defiance  of  their  control  at  once  led  the  barons 
to  put  aside  their  differences,  and  against  their  united 
front  the  king  could  make  no  stand.  But  with  success 
the  old  distrust  of  Simon  revived,  and  at  last,  in  utter 
weariness,  all  agreed  to  refer  the  question  to  St.  Louis 
of  France.  Just  and  wise  as  he  was,  Louis  was  yet  a  king 
and  human,  and  his  decision  given  in  1264  was  entirely  in 
favor  of  the  crown.  The  barons  at  once  rose  in  resistance, 
the  towns  and  universities  came  to  their  aid,  and  the  clergy 
were  on  their  side.  At  Lewes  the  two  forces  met,  Henry 
and  Edward  were  taken  prisoners,  and  the  royalists  were 
completely  defeated.  During  the  next  year  Leicester  ruled 
in  the  king's  name,  but  his  path  was  beset  with  difficulties, 
since  there  were  few  among  the  baronage  on  whom  he 
could  rely.  To  strengthen  his  position  he  took  the  step 
that  has  brought  lasting  honor  upon  his  name.  Turning  to 
the  people,  he  summoned  two  knights  of  every  shire  and 
with  them  two  burgesses  from  every  borough.  Knights 
and  burgesses  had  long  met  in  the  county  court  to  consider 
their  common  interests  ;  now  for  the  first  time  they  sat  side 
by  side  with  barons  and  bishops  in  the  national  council. 
It  was  the  last  despairing  effort  of  the  great  earl.  Already 
his  government  was  giving  way  ;  the  hostility  of  the  pope, 
the  jealousy  of  the  baronage,  the  loyalty  of  the  nation,  had 
united  to  undermine  his  power.  Within  a  few  weeks  the 
country  was  again  at  war.  At  Evesham  on  the  Welsh 
border  the  rival  forces  met.  Simon  watched  the  advance  of 


Struggle  for  the  Charter. 


103 


the  loyalists  under  the  lead  of  Prince  Edward.  "By  the 
arm  of  St.  James  they  come  on  cunningly.  Yet  have  they 
not  taught  themselves  that  order  of  battle,  but  have  learnt 
it  of  me."  The  end  was  not  slow  to  come  ;  one  by  one  the 
comrades  of  the  great  earl  were  shot  down.  "If  he  died 
they  had  no  will  to  live."  At  last  he,  too,  fell,  fighting 
bravely.  For  a  moment  it  seemed  as  though  the  cause 
of  freedom  was  lost,  as  though  all  that  Simon  de  Montfort 
had  struggled  for  was  of  no  avail.  But  another  stood 
ready  to  carry  on  his  work.  Something  more  than  the  art 
of  war  Simon  had  taught  to  the  man  who  conquered  him 
at  Evesham.  What  he  had  failed  to  do,  another,  acting 
from  the  vantage  point  of  the  throne,  was  to  carry  through 
to  a  glorious  fulfillment. 

EDWARD  I. 

With  the  death  of  Henry  III.  ended  the  days  of  foreign 
kingship.  English  in  name  and  English  at  heart,  Edward 
I.  stands  out  as  a  truly 
national  king.  A  man  of 
action,  thoroughly  in  ear- 
nest, and  convinced  of  the 
righteousness  of  his  pur- 
pose, he  was  often  high- 
handed and  impatient  of 
opposition,  but  he  was 
generous  and  conscien- 
tious, and  not  without 
reason  were  the  words 
"Keep  troth"  inscribed 
upon  his  tomb. 


Coronation  of  Edward  I.    From  an 
initial  Letter. 


Edward,  like  Henry  II.,  came  to  the  throne  with  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  task  before  him.  Creative  work  was 
accomplished,  the  time  for  definition  had  begun.  Edward 
originated  little  that  was  new,  but  he  worked  out  and 


New  legis- 


104  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

adapted  the  materials  that  lay  ready  at  hand.  It  was  an 
age  of  lawyers  and  law-making,  and  Edward  in  this  typi- 
fied his  time.  He  developed  the  j  udicial  system  along  the 
lines  laid  down  by  Henry  II.,  dividing  the  Court  of  the 
King's  Bench  into  three  separate  tribunals,  each  with  its 
own  judges.  By  the  Statute  of  Winchester  he  revived  and 
reorganized  the  old  institutions  of  national  police  and 
national  defense.  Every  man  was  forced  to  hold  himself 
ready  to  serve  the  king  at  home,  and  every  district  was 
made  responsible  for  crimes  committed  within  its  bounds. 
"  If  any  will  not  obey  the  arrest,"  so  runs  the  statute, 
"  the  officers  shall  levy  the  hue  and  cry  upon  them,  and 
such  as  keep  the  watch  shall  follow  with  hue  and  cry  with 
all  the  town  and  the  towns  near  and  so  hue  and  cry  shall 


Sword  Play.    Thirteenth  Century. 

be  made  from  town  to  town  until  that  they  be  taken  and 
delivered  to  the  sheriff. "  Another  provision  throws  light 
on  the  state  of  the  country :  "  And  further  it  is  com- 
manded that  highways  leading  from  one  market  town  to 
another  shall  be  enlarged  so  that  there  be  neither  dyke, 
tree,  nor  bush  whereby  a  man  may  lurk  to  do  hurt  within 
two  hundred  foot  of  the  one  side  and  two  hundred  foot  on 
the  other  side  of  the  way." 

Conquest  of  From  his   congenial   task   of  legislation   Edward   was 

drawn  by  the  revolt  of  Wales  in  1282.  Into  the  mountain 
fastnesses  of  the  Welsh  country,  English  arms  and  Eng- 
lish influence  had  never  penetrated.  Divided  into  clans, 


Struggle  for  the  Charter. 


105 


Heralds. 


the  national  spirit  appeared  only  in  resistance  to  the  Eng- 
lish rule,  the  love  of  freedom  showed  itself  only  in  hatred 
of  law  and  order.  Lawless  and  unsubdued,  the  Welsh 
were  a  constant  men- 
ace to  the  peace  of 
England.  Every  out- 
break was  sure  of 
their  assistance, 
every  rebel  found  a 
refuge  among  them. 
It  was  plain  there 
could  be  no  hope  of 
tranquillity  until  the 
country  was  subdued 
and  incorporated 
with  England.  The 

conquest  was  a  national  act,  and  Edward  accomplished  it 
in  a  national  way,  appealing  to  the  people  for  support  in 
two  provincial  councils  called  at  York  and  Northampton. 
The  war  was  successful,  Llewellyn,  the  Celtic  leader,  fell 
on  the  banks  of  the  Wye  and  with  him  ended  Welsh  in- 
dependence. 

Less  defensible  was  Edward's  action  with  regard  to  The 
another  question  to  which  he  now  turned  his  attention,  succession. 
For  centuries  the  relations  between  England  and  Scotland 
had  been  a  subject  of  dispute.  Relying  on  some  vague 
tradition  of  the  tenth  century,  the  southern  kingdom  had 
always  asserted  its  claim  to  overlordship,  but  the  northern 
kingdom  had  as  steadily  denied  it.  Since  the  time  of 
Henry  I.  the  question  had  dropped  out  of  sight,  but  in 
1290  the  matter  was  revived  by  the  death  of  the  Maid  of 
Norway,  the  last  of  the  direct  royal  line.  At  once  a  horde 
of  claimants  appeared.  Perplexed,  the  Scotch  barons 
turned  to  Edward  for  advice,  but  he  refused  to  act  unless 


106 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  Model 

Parliament. 


Two  knights 
from  each  of 
37  shires ;  two 
burgesses  from 
each  of  162 
chartered 
boroughs. 

The  lower 
clergy  soon 
ceased  to  send 
representa- 
tives. 


bis  overlordship  was  recognized.  To  this  the  barons  finally 
agreed,  though  the  Scotch  commons  refused  their  assent. 
His  claims  once  accepted,  Edward  acted  with  fairness  and 
wisdom,  giving  his  decision  finally  in  favor  of  John  Balliol. 
In  1293,  Edward's  greatness  was  at  its  height,  his  su- 
premacy was  acknowledged  throughout  the  island,  the 
country  was  at  peace  at  home  and  abroad.  Nowhere  was 
there  a  sign  that  the  crisis  of  his  reign  was  impending. 
And  yet  within  a  few  years  the  people  had  risen  against 
the  king,  Wales  and  Scotland  were  in  open  revolt,  and 
Gascony,  the  last  of  Henry  the  Second's  continental  pos- 
sessions, was  in  the  hands  of  the  French.  Philip  of 
France,  on  the  alert  to  seize  any  advantage,  saw  in  the 
smouldering  disaffection  of  the  Scotch  the  chance  of  em- 
barrassing Edward.  By  assurances  of  aid  he  precipitated 
the  inevitable  outbreak  in  the  northern  kingdom.  Edward 
at  once  prepared  to  defend  his  rights  and  turned  to  the 
nation  for  aid.  Anxious  to  avoid  the  arbitrary  measures  of 
his  father's  rule,  he  had  repeatedly  consulted  his  subjects 
in  time  of  need,  and  now  in  his  distress  he  called  to- 
gether men  of  every  class,  recognizing  their  right  to  act 
in  words  drawn  from  the  Roman  law,  "  What  touches  all 
must  be  agreed  to  by  all."  Bishops  and  barons  were  sum- 
moned to  meet  with  representatives  of  the  people,  knights 
from  the  shires,  and  burgesses  from  the  boroughs;  the  lower 
clergy  also  were  represented.  The  calling  of  the  Parliament 
of  1295  marks  a  turning-point  in  English  history.  From  that 
day  to  this  the  form  of  the  national  council  has  remained 
practically  unchanged,  its  place  in  the  government  scarcely 
questioned.  "  It  was  the  greatest  work  of  Edward's  life  to 
make  a  permanent  and  ordinary  part  of  the  machinery 
of  the  English  government  what  in  his  father's  time  had 
been  but  the  temporary  expedient  of  a  needy  tax-gatherer, 
or  the  last  despairing  effort  of  a  revolutionary  partisan." 


Struggle  for  the  Charter. 


107 


the  Charters. 


The  next  two  years  were  full  of  difficulties  that  tested  to 
the  utmost  the  constancy  of  the  king  and  the  forbearance 
of  his  subjects.    Across  the  Channel  the  French  were  gain- 
ing  ground,    and   at   home    discontent    was   rife.     The 
burden   of  taxation  was  great,  Edward's  measures  bore 
heavily  on  the  barons,  even  his  efforts  to  enforce  order  met 
with  opposition.     The  Church  especially  had  suffered  from 
his  exactions.    "The  royal  officers  spared  neither  monk 
nor   priest :    they  broke  open  every  money-chest :    they 
even  ransacked  the  towers  and  belfries  of  the  churches." 
In  1296  the  Church  relying  on  papal  support  refused  an  confirmation  of 
aid  demanded  by  the  king.     In  retaliation,  Edward  at 
once  outlawed    the   clergy,  and   soon   brought   them   to 
terms  ;  but  the  delay  had  led  him  to  a  step  which  at  once 
put  him  in  the  wrong.    On  more  than  one  occasion  the 
king  had  evaded  the  demands 
of  the  barons  by  making  terms 
with  the  merchants.    Now  in 
his  need  he  raised  the  export 
duty  on  wool  to  six  times  its 
former  amount.    The  barons 
at  once  prepared  to  resist,  and 
occasion  was  given  them  in 
Edward's  demand  that  they 
should  lead  the  force  to  Flan- 
ders.   This  they  refused  to  do. 
"By  God,  Sir  Earl,"  stormed 
Edward  to  one  of  the  leaders, 

"you  shall  either  go  or  hang."  "By  that  same  oath,  Sir 
King,  I  will  neither  go  nor  hang,"  was  the  defiant  answer. 
The  meeting  broke  up  in  disorder,  and  Edward  found  that  he 
had  gone  too  far  ;  townsfolk  and  barons,  laity  and  clergy, 
were  united  against  him,  and  with  what  grace  he  could  mus- 
ter he  yielded  to  the  demand  of  the  barons  that  he  should 


Civil  Costume  of  the  Reign  of 
Edward  I. 


108 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


War  with 
Scotland. 


sign  the  Charter  with  additional  articles  limiting  still  more 
the  royal  power  of  taxation.  By  this  act  the  king  bound 
himself  never  again  to  take  "  aids,  tasks,  and  prizes,  but  by 
the  common  assent  of  the  realm,"  nor  to  impose  on  wool  a 
heavy  custom  or  "maletot"  without  the  same  consent. 
The  confirmation  of  the  Charter  stands  as  a  landmark 
in  constitutional  history  ;  in  Edward's  concessions  was 
summed  up  all  that  had  been  gained  since  the  time  of  John. 
The  remaining  years  of  Edward's  reign  were  filled  with 
the  struggle  with  Scotland.  Under  the  inspiration  of  Wal- 

lace, an  outlaw  knight, 
national  feeling  found  ex- 
pression in  open  revolt.  In 
1304  Wallace  was  captured 
and  put  to  death,  and  for 
the  moment  it  seemed  as 
though  Scotland  was  to 
share  the  fortune  of  Wales; 


Slings  of  Warfare. 


but  though  defeated,  the  Scotch  were  yet  unconquered,  and 
under  the  lead  of  Robert  Bruce  again  took  up  arms.  The 
issue  was  still  unsettled  when  in  1307  Edward  died  near 
Carlisle  on  his  way  northward.  For  a  few  years  longer  the 
struggle  went  on,  but  where  Edward  I.  had  failed,  little 
could  be  hoped  from  his  son  ;  step  by  step  the  English  lost 
ground,  and  at  last,  in  1314,  in  the  hard-fought  battle  of 
Bannockburn,  the  invading  army  met  with  complete  de- 
feat, and  Scotch  independence  was  achieved. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


RISE  OF  THE  COMMONS. 


Illustrative  Readings. 
The  Boy's  Froissart. 
John  Wyclif;  Sergeant.  Heroes 

of  the  Nation  Series. 
Canterbury  Tales :  Chaucer. 
Dream  of  John  Ball ;  Morris. 
Edward  II. ;  Marlowe. 
Richard  II.;  Shakespeare. 
The  King's  Tragedy;  Rossettl. 
The  Fair  Maid  of  Perth ;  Scott. 
Important  Dates. 
Reign  of  Edward  II.,  1307-1327. 
1311,  The  Ordinances. 
1314,  Battle     of    Bannockburn. 

Loss  of  Scotland. 
1322,  Downfall  of  Lancaster. 

Genealogical  Table. 


1327,  Deposition  of  Edward  II. 
Reign  of  Edward  III.,  1327-1377. 
1336,  Outbreak  of  the  Hundred 
Years'  War,  1336-1347;    1354- 
1360;  1368-1375;  1378-1389. 
1349,  The  Black  Death. 
1351,  The  first  Statute  of  Labor- 
ers. 

1376,  The  Good  Parliament. 
Reign  of  Richard  II.,  1377-1399. 
1381,  The  Peasant  Revolt. 
1384,  Death  of  Wyclif. 
1386,  The    Commission    of    Re- 
form. 

1397,  The  King's  coup  d'etat. 
1399,  Deposition  of  Richard  II. 


HENRY  III. 


Edward  I.,  1274-1307. 
Edward  II.,  1307-1327. 
Edward  III.,  1327-1377. 


Ed\ 


Edmund, 

|  Earl  of  Lancaster. 
Thomas, 

Earl  of  Lancaster, 
beheaded  1322. 


Edmund,         Thomas, 
Duke  of  Duke  of 

York.  Gloucester. 


iward,  Lionel       John  of  Gaunt, 

the  Black  Prince.    Duke  of    Duke  of 

Clarence.  Lancaster. 

Richard  II.,  Philippa    Henry  IV., 

1377-1399.  1399-1413. 

Roger  Mortimer, 

Earl  of  March. 

DURING  the  course  of  the  fourteenth  century,  great  and 
momentous  changes  were  wrought  out  in  the  character 
and  constitution  of  the  English  nation.  The  elements  of 
progress  which  were  gathering  force  during  the  thirteenth 
century  reached  a  climax  of  development  in  the  fourteenth. 
A  marked  invigoration  of  the  national  character,  in  which 

109 


110  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

the  whole  people,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  had  part, 
distinguishes  the  period.  Roused  to  a  consciousness  of 
opportunity,  the  nation  sought  to  attain  a  larger  and 
freer  life.  The  cruelties  of  the  Conquest,  the  miseries 
of  civil  war,  were  forgotten  in  that  glad  sense  of  re- 
newed strength  which  makes  the  fourteenth  century  seem 
the  springtime  of  the  English  race.  The  buoyant  aspira- 
tion of  the  people  found  expression  in  diverse  ways. 
Thought  and  language  responded  to  its  call  and  a  national 
literature  arose.  The  religious  instinct  was  awakened  and  a 
purer  faith  rejected  the  authority  of  a  degenerate  Church. 
Restless  under  restraint,  men  strove  to  cast  aside  the  bur- 
dens imposed  by  lord  and  king,  seeking  to  win  industrial 
advancement  and  political  freedom.  In  comparison  with 
these  mighty  aspirations  of  the  people,  the  enterprises  of 
kings,  whether  in  war  or  in  court  intrigue,  seem  but  petty 
affairs  and  of  slight  consequence ;  nevertheless,  the  sov- 
ereign was  an  influential  personage.  His  arbitrary  will 
might  do  much  to  further  or  hinder  the  welfare  of  the 
nation. 

CONSTITUTIONAL  PROGRESS. 

The  remarkable  progress  toward  constitutional  govern- 
ment during  this  period  is  a  direct  consequence  of  the 
Taxation.  financial  necessities  of  the  crown.    Military  expenses  con- 

stituted the  most  serious  item  in  the  royal  debit  account. 
The  French  wars  dragged  their  weary  length  through  the 
century  and  the  burden  imposed  upon  the  nation  became 
well-nigh  unendurable.  The  cost  of  the  several  expeditions 
to  France  was  defrayed  by  grants  voted  in  Parliament  with 
little  grumbling,  for  the  people  were  ready  to  pay  taxes 
where  the  glory  of  the  English  name  was  at  stake ;  but  the 
expenses  of  the  royal  household  were  not  so  cheerfully 
met.  Men  argued  that  the  king  should  "  live  of  his  own," 
that  his  court  should  be  maintained  out  of  the  revenue 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  Ill 

from  the  royal  demesnes.  Now  the  royal  estates  had  been 
considerably  reduced  by  sale  and  gift  since  the  Conqueror's 
day,  so  that  the  private  revenue  of  the  crown  had  fallen  off 
at  the  same  time  that  the  habits  of  the  sovereign  had  waxed 
more  luxurious.  The  ordinary  income  of  the  king,  that 
from  the  royal  demesnes  and  legitimate  aids  and  customs, 
was  probably  at  this  time  about  £65,000.  Of  this  sum,  until  the  six- 
from  £10,000  to  £15,000  was  spent  upon  the  royal  house-  2? monlytur> 
hold,  the  rest  being  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
king's  castles,  the  army,  the  navy,  and  the  civil  service. 
Fifteen  thousand  pounds  was  perhaps  not  an  extravagant  monitor t  m 
sum  to  allow  for  keeping  up  an  establishment  that  must  * 
compare  favorably  with  the  courts  of  continental  mon- 
archs,  but  the  people  fretted  under  the  burden,  and  a 
number  of  clumsy  efforts  were  made  to  control  the  royal 
expenditure.  The  Charter  confirmed  in  1297  bound  the 
king  to  levy  no  extraordinary  taxes  "  without  the  common 
consent  of  the  realm  and  to  the  common  profit  thereof." 
Edward  I.  loyally  observed  the  limitations  so  imposed,  but 
his  successors  were  less  scrupulous.  The  king's  lawyers 
were  not  slow  to  find  means  of  evading  the  Charter,  and 
the  Parliamentary  records  of  the  period  abound  in  protests 
against  illegal  taxation.  Exorbitant  sums  were  exacted 
from  the  royal  demesnes,  where  the  people,  being  imme- 
diate dependents  of  the  crown,  could  make  no  effective 
resistance  ;  new  customs  duties  were  imposed  by  special 
arrangement  with  the  merchants  (export  duties  on  wool 
and  import  duties  on  wine  and  other  luxuries)  ;  but  the 
favorite  device  of  a  needy  monarch  was  to  borrow  the 
money  he  could  not  raise  by  taxation.  There  was  no  lack 
of  opportunity.  The  Jewish  money-lenders,  the  never- 
failing  resource  of  preceding  kings,  had  been  banished  from 
England  in  1290 ;  but  there  were  Italian  bankers  and 
Flemish  merchants  who  might  always  be  relied  on  to 


112 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Purveyance. 


Edward  II. 
1307-1327. 


accommodate  a  royal  spendthrift,  and  the  pope  himself 
was  not  averse  to  loaning  money  on  good  security.  These 
debts  were  of  course  a  charge  on  future  revenue  and  must 
eventually  be  paid  by  the  nation.  Money  was  not  unfre- 
quently  extorted  from  wealthy  English  prelates  and  the 
prosperous  towns  of  the  realm,  on  the  pretense  of  repay- 
ment, but  subjects  gave  with  a  bad  grace  since  the  royal 
creditor  had  a  poor  memory  for  such  obligations  and  could 
not  safely  be  pressed.  The  most  vexatious  resource,  and 
that  which  roused  deepest  animosity  among  the  people, 
was  the  so-called  right  of  purveyance.  On  the  magnificent 
royal  progresses  through  the  realm,  the  king's  officers  pro- 
vided for  the  needs  of  his  household  at  the  expense  of  the 
inhabitants.  Food  and  shelter  were  demanded  at  the 
lowest  prices  and  with  no  security  for  payment.  The 
carts  and  horses,  even  the  personal  services  of  the  peasants, 
were  called  into  requisition,  not  merely  for  the  king's  use, 
but  at  the  convenience  of  any  one  of  the 
royal  officers  who  dared  ask  them  in  the 
king's  name.  This  abuse  of  power  was  fre- 
quently protested,  and  reform  was  no  less 
frequently  promised,  but  it  was  a  privilege 
dear  to  the  heart  of  royalty  and  was  not 
readily  relinquished.  The  practice  was  well 
calculated  to  bring  home  to  the  understand- 
ing of  the  common  people  the  inconveniences 
of  tyranny. 

These  questionable  prerogatives  of  the 
crown  were  enlarged  to  dangerous  pro- 
portions by  the  foolish  and  incompetent 
son  of  the  great  Edward.  Edward  II.  was  not  so  much 
despotic  as  self-willed  and  indulgent.  He  looked  upon 
his  realm  as  a  fair  pasture  wherein  he  and  his  friends 
might  fatten  at  their  will.  The  prime  favorite  was  Piers 


Effigy  of  Ed- 
ward II. 


Rise  of  the  Commons. 


113 


Gaveston,  a  needy  French  courtier,  brilliant  and  lovable 
eveii  at  this  distance  of  time  and  space,  a  loyal  friend  but  a 
dangerous  adviser.    For  this  petted  gallant,  great  estates 
were  carved  from  the  royal  demesne.    He  was  made  Earl 
of  Cornwall,  and  when  the  king  went  over  sea  to  bring 
home  his  French  bride,  Gaveston  was  appointed  regent  of 
the  realm.    The  gay  Gascon  waxed  fat  and  kicked.    He 
flung  jibes  at  the  great  English  lords,  reck- 
less of  their  sullen  wrath.     In  1310  a  con- 
vention of  the  barons,  under   the  lead  of 
Thomas  of  Lancaster,  the  king's  cousin,  pre- 
sented a  solemn  protest.     They  complained 
that  the   people  were  burdened  by  heavy 
and  illegal  taxes,  while   the  kingdom  lay 
undefended,  the  money  that   should   have 
been  devoted  to  the  Scotch  war  being  wasted 
on  unworthy  favorites.     The   government 
was  placed  in  commission  for  a  year,  twenty-  FemaieCostume. 
one  Lords  Ordainers  being  appointed  to  act        ward  n. 
for  the  king,  and  a  series  of  ordinances  was  drawn  up  which   The  Lords 
Edward  was  forced  to  confirm.    Gaveston  was  banished 
from  the  realm,  together  with  the  Italian  bankers  who  had 
lent  their  aid  to  the  royal  extravagance.    The  king  was 
forbidden  to  alienate  the  royal  demesne  and  was  told  that 
he  must  hereafter  "live  of  his  own."    No  unusual  taxes 
were  to  be  levied,  nor  could  the  king  raise  an  army,  go  to 
war,  or  quit  the  realm  without  consent  of   the  barons. 
Parliament  was  to  be  convened  at  least  once  a  year  to  con-  a 
sider  such  requests  from  the  king.    The  Ordinances  gave 
the  barons  effective  control  of  the  government,  but  the 
untrammeled  rule  of  the  great  lords  proved  to  be  no  less 
despotic  than  that  of  the  crown.     When,  a  few  years  later, 
the  king,  under  the  guidance  of  his  new  favorites,  the 
Dispensers,  was   able    to    accomplish  the    ruin   of  Lan- 


114 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Deposition 
of  Edward  II. 
1327. 


caster,  England  rejoiced  at  his  fall.  The  Dispensers  had 
the  good  sense  to  see  that  the  king's  best  security  against 
any  future  effort  of  the  barons  was  the  support  of  the 
people.  The  Parliament  of  1322,  which  repealed  the  Or- 
dinances, decreed  that  all  matters  concerning  the  king  and 
the  realm  must  be  enacted  in  full  Parliament  with  the 
consent  of  the  "  prelates,  earls,  and  barons,  and  the  com- 
monalty of  the  realm." 

Such  a  declaration,  if  accepted  in  its  full  import  by  the 
king,  might  have  furnished  the  basis  of  a  successful  reign  ; 
but  Edward's  foolish  fondness  for  his  favorites  had  raised 
up  foes  in  his  own  household.  His  Queen,  Isabel,  resolving 
to  avenge  the  slights  put  upon  her,  fled  with  her  paramour, 
Roger  Mortimer,  to  France.  Prince  Edward  joined  her 
there,  and  the  three  concerted  rebellion.  Landing  on  the 
English  coast  in  1326,  they  were  joined  by  the  leading 
barons.  London  declared  for  the  prince,  the  Dispensers 
were  hanged,  and  a  full  Parliament  was  convened  at  West- 
minster where  the  helpless  king  was 
forced  to  abdicate,  young  Edward  being 
proclaimed  king  in  his  stead.  The  prin- 
cipal actors  in  this  poor  tragedy  were,  it 
is  true,  inspired  by  selfish  and  unworthy 
motives,  and  hardly  deserved  the  success 
they  achieved  ;  but  they  wrought  better 
than  they  knew.  In  summoning  the 
nation  to  their  aid,  in  appealing  to  Par- 
liament to  displace  an  unworthy  king, 
they  acknowledged  in  the  national  as- 
sembly an  authority  superior  to  mon- 
archy. From  this  time  Parliament  was 
recognized  as  the  dominant  power  in  the  realm.  Without 
the  consent  of  the  assembled  estates,  no  tax  could  be  levied, 
no  law  passed.  Kings  and  courtiers  might  terrify  or  cajole 


Female  Costume. 
Time  of  Ed- 
ward II. 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  115 

the  people's  representatives  into  compliance  with  their 
will,  but  they  must  secure  at  least  the  show  of  popular 
sanction. 

Coming  to  the  throne  under  such  conditions,  Edward  III.  Edward  ra. 
could  not  consistently  dispute  the  authority  of  the  national 
Parliament.  Indeed  he  was  not  the  man  to  enter  into  a 
constitutional  contest.  The  third  Edward  was  by  instinct 
a  general,  not  a  statesman,  and  his  energies  were  absorbed 
in  the  long  war  with  France.  So  long  as  Parliament  sanc- 
tioned his  military  enterprises  and  voted  supplies  for  his 
army,  he  was  ready  to  make  any  concessions  required  of 
him.  Of  the  continental  dominions  of  Henry  II.,  Aquitaine 
only  remained,  and  this  fair  province  was  wavering  in  her 
allegiance  and  inclined  to  admit  the  suzerainty  of  the 
French  king.  Edward  III.  was  ambitious  to  restore  the 
military  prestige  of  his  race  and  entered  thoughtlessly  into 
the  project  of  conquest  which  ultimately  cost  England 
dear.  Grounds  of  quarrel  were  not  lacking.  The  aggres- 
sions of  Philip  VI.  in  Aquitaine,  his  interference  in  Scot-  TheFrench 
land,  his  demand  that  Edward  should  make  good  the  wars- 
damage  done  to  French  merchants  by  English  sailors  in 
the  Channel — all  these  were  serious  grievances,  but  they  did 
not  j ustify  Edward's  pretensions  to  the  French  crown.  His 
claim*  was  based  on  the  fact  that  he  was,  through  his 


*  Claim  of  Edward  III.  to  the  French  crown. 

Philip  III.,  the  Bold,  1270-1285. 

Philip  IV.,  the  Fair,  1285-1314.  Charles  of  Valois. 


Louis  X.,  Philip  V.,  Charles  IV.,  Isabel,  Philip  VI., 

1314-1316.  the  Long,  the  Fair,  m.  Ed.  II.     1328-1350. 

1316-1322.  1322-1328.  of  England. 

John  I.,  | 

1316.  Edward  III.       John  II., 

the  Good, 
1350-1364. 

Charles  V. 


116  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

mother,  Isabel,  the  only  surviving  grandchild  of  Philip  the 
Fair,  while  Philip  VI.  was  but  the  son  of  a  younger 
branch.  The  French  court  repudiated  the  claim,  citing  the 
Salic  law  to  prove  that  the  succession  could  not  be  claimed 
through  a  woman.  But  this  was  a  mere  quibble  of  the 
lawyers.  The  essential  right  of  Philip,  and  that  which 
Joan  of  Arc  urged  for  his  successpr  one  hundred  years  later, 
was  that  the  French  people  should  be  ruled  by  a  French 
king.  In  contrast  to  this  fundamental  right  of  a  nation  to 
its  own,  the  arguments  of  jurists,  pro  and  con,  are  mere 
"sound  and  fury,  signifying  nothing." 
Victory  was  at  first  on  the  side  of  England.  Edward 
commanded  a  loyal  army  be- 
cause he  had  a  united  people 
and  a  well-filled  treasury  at  his 
back.  Philip  VI.,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  but  feudal  lord  of 
France.  His  force  was  made 
up  of  mounted  knights,  the  un- 
ruly retainers  of  his  great  vas- 
sals. Discipline,  generalship,  was  out  of  the  question. 
The  battlefield  of  Crecy  bears  witness  to  the  weakness 
of  a  feudal  force  when  brought  face  to  face  with  national 
troops.  The  bulk  of  the  English  army  was  made  up  of 
foot-soldiers,  stout  yeoman  archers,  who  steadily  stood 
their  ground,  while  the  bad  management  and  disorder 
of  the  French  were  indescribable.  The  hero  of  the  French 
wars  was  the  eldest  son  of  King  Edward,  "the  Black 
Prince."  Nothing  ^more  clearly  indicates  how  distorted 
were  the  moral  ideals  of  the  age  than  this  universal 
admiration  of  Prince  Edward.  That  he  was  a  brilliant 
and  daring  warrior  was  abundantly  proved  at  Crecy  and 
Poitiers  ;  but  personal  courage  was  offset  by  a  cruelty  and 
greed  that  rendered  him  the  prince  of  plunderers.  Rich 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  117 

booty  was  wrung  from  the  unhappy  people  only  to  be 
spent  in  wasteful  revel.  The  fairest  districts  of  France 
were  devastated  to  no  military  end,  and  the  country  r> 
duced  to  a  state  of  anarchy.  It  was  the  vice  of  the  times. 
Medieval  chivalry  imposed  a  high  code  of  honor  upon  its 
devotees,  but  their  superfine  courtesy  did  not  extend  be- 
yond their  own  class.  Peasants  and  burghers  were  thought 
creatures  of  another  clay.  Froissart  lauds  the  generosity 
of  the  Black  Prince  when,  after  Poitiers,  he  rewards  the 


Cannon  used  at  Orecy. 

valiant  knight  who  led  the  fray,  with  a  pension  of  six 
hundred  marks,  and  serves  the  captured  King  John  at  a 
sumptuous  supper,  standing  by  his  side  with  deferential 
solicitude.  The  princely  chronicler  ignores  the  fact  that 
the  treasure  dispensed  in  such  royal  fashion  was  wrested 
from  starving  peasants. 

After  years  of  this  wasteful  and  inhuman  warfare,  Prince 
Edward  returned  home  laden  with  booty,  but  broken  in 
body  and  spirit.  The  best  blood  of  England  had  been 
spilled  on  the  fields  of  France,  but  the  country  was  no 
nearer  submission  than  when  the  war  began.  By  tba 
Peace  of  Bretigny,  the  king  surrendered  his  claim  to  the 
French  crown,  and,  in  1375,  a  truce  was  agreed  upon  which 
left  the  English  in  possession  of  no  French  territory  but 
the  seaports  Calais,  Cherbourg,  Brest,  Bordeaux,  and  Bay- 
onne. 

The  long  and  costly  war  was  not  merely  fruitless  ;  it  was 
demoralizing.  It  is  true  that  bravery  and  knightly  honor 


118  The  Groivth  of  the  English  Nation. 

were  fostered  by  these  years  of  desperate  adventure,  but  the 
same  conditions  bred  brutality  and  avarice.  Princes  and 
barons  returned  to  England  to  spend  in  reckless  extrava- 
gance the  wealth  amassed  in  the  French  campaigns. 
Constitutional  Disastrous  as  were  the  French  wars,  they  yet  served  one 
French  wars .  ^  useful  purpose.  They  furnished  the 

opportunity  for  constitutional  progress. 
Great  armies  could  not  be  maintained 
without  frequent  appeals  for  money, 
and  the  Parliaments  of  this  period 
were  not  slow  to  utilize  such  occasions 
for  extorting  concessions  from  the 
king.  Grants  were  only  voted  in  return 
A  Mounted  Knight.  for  redress  of  grievances,  and  the  king 

was  forced  to  surrender,  one  after  another,  the  most  cher- 
ished prerogatives  of  the  crown.  Exclusive  right  of  taxation 
was  accorded  to  Parliament,  together  with  the  power  to 
specify  the  object  to  which  the  supply  should  be  devoted. 
The  royal  accounts  were  examined  by  auditors  appointed  by 
Parliament,  and  the  king's  ministers  were  held  responsible 
to  the  representatives  of  the  people.  These  were  great  and 
important  concessions.  They  secured  to  the  Parliament  of 
the  fourteenth  century  authority  almost  coextensive  with 
that  exercised  by  the  House  of  Commons  to-day. 

Organization  of       Forty-eight  Parliaments  were  convened  in  the  fifty  years 

Parliament. 

of  Edward  III.'s  reign,  and  the  mass  of  business  consid- 
ered rendered  effective  organization  necessary.  The 
methods  of  procedure  then  determined  upon  are  still  ob- 
served, curious  and  antiquated  though  many  of  them 
seem.  By  1343  the  representatives  of  the  several  estates 
had  established  the  custom  of  meeting  in  two  distinct 
assemblies,  the  House  of  Lords  and  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. In  the  House  of  Lords,  the  lineal  descendant  of 
the  Great  Council,  sat  some  fifty  barons  and  as  many  great 


Rise  of  the  Commons,  119 

ecclesiastics  who  together  represented  the  interests  of  a 
small  fraction  of  the  English  nation,  the  privileged  orders. 
Knights  and  burgesses  originally  sat  apart  as  representing 
distinct  estates  and  separate  interests,  but  they  gradually 
learned  how  much  might  be  gained  by  alliance.  The 
knight  spoke  for  his  shire,  and  the  burgess  for  his  borough, 
but  both  stood  for  the  interests  of  the  middle  classes  as 
opposed  to  those  of  the  barons  and  clergy.  Their  union 
in  the  House  of  Commons  was  a  gain  to  the  cause  of  con- 


Archery.    Fourteenth  Century. 

stitutional  development.  Jointly  they  gathered  courage 
to  undertake  reforms  that  neither  estate  would  have  ven- 
tured alone. 

The  reign  of  Edward  III.,  held  to  be  so  brilliant  by  con- 
temporary annalists,  drew  to  a  close  in  grief  and  gloom. 
The  last  expedition  to  France  had  been  a  pitiful  failure, 
and  England  was  forced  to  sue  for  peace.  The  Prince  of 
Wales,  his  splendid  energy  exhausted,  had  come  home  to 
die.  The  old  king  was  in  his  dotage.  Ruled  by  his 
greedy,  unscrupulous  mistress,  Alice  Ferrers,  he  weakly 
yielded  to  the  clamors  of  the  cunning  parasites  who  fat- 
tened on  the  life-blood  of  the  nation.  Bribery,  peculation, 
fraud,  every  form  of  corruption,  was  rife  at  court.  The 
ostentatious  extravagance  of  the  upper  classes  showed  in 
startling  contrast  to  the  misery  of  the  people.  Moreover, 
the  Black  Death,  a  mysterious  pestilence  that  visited  The  Black 
England  in  1348  to  return  again  and  again  before  the  close  Death- 


120 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  Good  Par- 
liament.   1376. 


Effigy  of  Ed- 

w«3tmin'ster 
Abbey. 


of  the  century,  had  swept  away  half  the  population  and 
left  the  nation  terrified  and  spent.  The  government  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  John  of  Gaunt,  a 
younger  son  of  Edward  III.,  and  the  ablest 
of  his  house.  He  made  but  selfish  use  of  his 
great  power.  Allying  himself  in  political 
trickery  with  Alice  Ferrers,  he  winked  at  the 
malpractices  of  the  court.  When  Parliament 
at  last  set  about  the  work  of  reform,  the  great 
Duke  of  Lancaster  was  recognized  as  a  most 
dangerous  opponent.  The  grievances  of  the 
people  were  voiced  by  the  House  of  Commons. 
Encouraged  by  the  support  of  Prince  Edward, 
they  presented  a  remonstrance,  boldly  com- 
plaining of  the  extravagance  and  corruption 
of  the  court  and  denouncing  the  king's  min- 
isters as  evil  counselors.  At  first  the  reformers  carried 
everything  before  them.  Lyons  and  Latimer,  officers  of 
the  king,  were  accused  of  gigantic  financial  frauds,  and 
solemnly  impeached.  Heavy  fines  were  im- 
posed on  Alice  Ferrers  and  others  convicted 
of  receiving  bribes.  A  Council  of  Govern- 
ment was  chosen,  composed  of  men  who  could 
be  trusted  to  regard  the  interests  of  the  nation. 
Petitions  were  presented,  140  in  number,  pro- 
testing against  the  maladministration  of  the 
government.  They  enumerated  the  griev- 
ances that  had  been  accumulating  since  the 
beginning  of  the  reign.  The  old  king  bent 
his  head  before  this  storm  of  indignation  and 

granted  all  that  was  asked  of  him,  but  Lan-    Female  Cos- 
tume. Time 
caster  bided  his  time.    The  death  of  Prince  of  Edward  in. 

Edward  that  same  year  struck  the  ground  from  under  the 
feet  of  the  reform  party.    His  son  Richard  was  but  a  child 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  121 

of  ten  years  and  John  of  Gaunt  was  next  in  succession. 
Hardly  was  the  Good  Parliament  dissolved  when  its  acts 
were  arbitrarily  revoked ;  Alice  Ferrers,  Latimer,  and 
Lyons  were  recalled,  and  the  Parliamentary  leaders  pun- 
ished. Lancaster  convened  a  Parliament  the  following 
spring,  having  first  looked  well  to  it  that  the  representa- 
tives sent  to  the  House  of  Commons  should  be  such  as 
would  serve  his  purpose.  From  an  assembly  so  packed,  no 
resistance  was  to  be  feared,  and  the  necessary  supplies  were 
granted  without  remonstrance.  So  the  work  of  the  Good 
Parliament  was  undone  because  there  was  not  in  the  Lower 
House  sufficient  staying  power  for  persistent  opposition. 

Throughout  the  reign  of  Eichard  II.,  the  Commons  Richardn. 
played  but  a  minor  part  in  the  government.  A  council  of  1377-1399- 
regency  was  immediately  appointed  with  John  of  Gaunt 
at  its  head.  His  administration  was  far  from  brilliant.  The 
war  with  France  was  renewed,  but  carried  on  with  so  little 
energy  that  Ghent  and  Flanders  passed  into  French  control, 
and  the  Flemish  trade,  a  rich  source  of  profit,  was  lost  to 
England.  The  French  grew  so  bold  as  to  undertake  inva- 
sion in  their  turn.  A  force  was  landed  in  the  Isle  of  Wight 
and  with  difficulty  repulsed.  The  formidable  insurrection 
of  the  people,  which  broke  out  in  1381,  was  in  its  political 
aspects  a  protest  against  the  misgovernment  of  Lancaster. 

The  inconstant  Gaunt  withdrew  in  1386,  to  follow  a  wild 
goose  chase  in  pursuit  of  the  Spanish  crown,  and  the  gov- 
ernment came  into  the  hands  of  the  youngest  of  the  king's 
uncles,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester.  Hitherto  Richard  had 
been  allowed  to  choose  his  own  ministers  and  waste  the 
royal  revenues  unmolested.  Inquiry  was  now  made  into 
the  abuses  of  the  court,  and  a  council  of  reform  was  intrust- 
ed with  the  government.  The  king's  effort  to  free  himself 
was  successfully  withstood  by  the  Lords  Appellant,  and  the 
"Merciless  Parliament,"  acting  at  the  instance  of  Glouces- 


122 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  Lords 
Apellant, 
the  five  great 
nobles  who 
brought  accu- 
sation of  trea-. 
son  against 
the  king's 
counselors. 


Absolutism 
of  the  king. 


ter,  impeached  the  friends  and  ministers  of  Richard  and 
condemned  them  to  death.  Thus  far  the  young  king  had 
seemed  a  submissive  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  party  in 
power  ;  but,  in  1389,  he  suddenly  shook  off  the  restraint  of 
the  Council,  announced  himself  of  age,  and  took  posses- 
sion of  the  government.  For  eight  years  Richard  reigned 
in  accordance  with  constitutional  forms,  but,  in  1397, 
this  policy  was  sharply  reversed.  Having  secured  a  long 
truce  with  France  by  his  marriage  with  the  daughter 
of  Charles  VI.,  the  king,  relieved  of  the  embarrassment  of 
foreign  war,  found  his  hands  free  to  strike  the  long  delayed 
blow  at  the  Lords  Appellant.  One  after  another  they  were 
seized  and  thrown  into  prison.  A  packed  Parliament  voted 
their  condemnation,  declared  the  acts  of  the  Merciless  Par- 
liament void,  and  vested  the  legislative  power  in  a  perma- 
nent committee  made  up  of  twelve  peers  and  six  common- 
ers. Richard  now  seemed  absolute.  Taxes  were  levied 
without  regard  to  right  or  usage.  Men  were  even  com- 
pelled to  put  their  seals  to  blank  promises  to  pay,  which 
the  king  could  fill  up  with  any  sum  he  pleased.  Richard's 
enemies  were  thrown  into  prison  or  sent  into  exile  without 
show  of  right.  But  the  work  of  two  centuries  could  not  be 
so  easily  undone.  The  party  of  resistance  found  a  leader 
in  Henry,  Duke  of  Hereford,  son  and  heir  of  John  of  Gaunt. 
This  prince,  exiled  by  arbitrary  decree  of  the  king,  returned 
in  1399  to  claim  not  only  his  confiscated  ancestral  estates, 
but  the  crown  itself.  All  elements  of  the  opposition  flocked 
to  his  standard — outraged  nobles  no  less  than  rebellious 
commons.  Richard,  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  his  foes, 
was  forced  to  resign  the  throne.  "  Your  people,  my  Lord," 
said  Lancaster,  "complain  that  for  the  space  of  twenty- 
years  you  have  ruled  them  harshly  ;  however,  if  it  please 
God,  I  will  help  you  to  rule  them  better."  "  Fair  cousin," 
responded  the  helpless  Richard,  "since  it  pleases  you,  it 


Rise  of  the  Commons. 


123 


pleases  me  well."    The  king  was  tried  in  full  Parliament  Dep08iti0nof 
and  declared  to  be  "  useless,  incompetent,  and  altogether 
insufficient  and  unworthy."    The  grounds  for  deposition 
were  faithlessness  toward  divers  of  the  great  lords,  trans- 
gression of  the  con- 
stitutional  rights  of 
the  nation,  and  the 
assertion  of  absolute 
sovereignty.    It  was 
the  tragic  failure  of 
Edward  II.  repeated, 
but   with    a   deeper 
signiflca  nee.    We 

may  see  a  Piers  Gav-    Parliament  assembled  for  the  Deposition  of 

Richard  II.    From  an  Illustration  in 
eston    in    Robert   de  the  Harleian  MS.,  No.  1319. 

Vere  and  a  Thomas  of  Lancaster  in  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  ; 
but  Richard  was  a  stronger  man  than  Edward  II.  It  is 
difficult  to  discern  his  real  character  and  purposes  in  the 
partisan  report  given  us  by  the  friends  of  the  rival  dynasty. 
It  is,  however,  evident  that  he  definitely  projected  an 
absolute  sovereignty.  The  victory  of  Lancaster  may  thus 
be  justly  regarded  as  the  triumph  of  constitutional  govern- 
ment. 

INTELLECTUAL  REVIVAL. 

In  the  realm  of  thought  even  more  than  in  that  of  action, 
the  reinvigoration  of  national  life  made  itself  felt.  The  bar- 
ren controversies  of  the  scholastics  were  cast  aside.  Men 
turned  from  the  contemplation  of  abstruse  problems  of 
theology  to  the  more  vital  questions  of  social  and  political 
life.  Human  passions,  human  needs,  the  effort  to  realize 
happiness  in  this  present  life — these  were  the  absorbing  inter- 
ests of  literature  and  polemic.  Under  the  influence  of  this 
new  humanism,  writers  for  the  first  time  gave  adequate 
expression  to  the  play  of  thought  and  feeling  in  the  world 


124 


The  Growth  of  the  .English  Nation. 


Address  from 
the  throne 
given  in 
English  for 
the  first  time 
in  1365. 


Geoffrey 
Chaucer. 
1340(?)-1400. 
"Detheofthe 
Duchesse." 
"  Parliament 
of  Foules." 
"  Troilus  and 
Cressida." 
;  Legende  of 


Women." 

"Canterbury 

Tales." 


about  them,  and  there  appears  for  the  first  time  in  England 
a  literature  to  which  we  return  with  something  more  than 
curiosity — with  a  vivid  interest  in  the  men  and  women 
portrayed. 

It  is  most  natural  that  this  sympathetic  literary  impulse 
should  express  itself  in  the  speech  of  the  people.  The  four- 
teenth century,  indeed,  witnessed  the  final  triumph  of  the 
English  language.  Though  Latin  continued  for  some  time 
yet  to  be  spoken  in  the  universities,  English  was  by  the 
reign  of  Richard  II.  commonly  used  in  the  lower  schools. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  century,  the  English  speech  was 
adopted  in  Parliament  and  in  the  Courts  of  Law.  French 
was  still  affected  by  the  aristocracy ;  but  Chaucer  and 
Langland  and  Wyclif,  the  great  writers  of  the  age,  made 
noble  use  of  the  native  tongue.  In  Chaucer,  the  day-star  of 
English  poets,  the  effect  of  Norman  blood  and  continental 
culture  makes  itself  felt  by  a  lightness  and  grace,  foreign  to 
the  Saxon  genius  ;  but  in  a  certain  simplicity  and  sincerity 
of  expression,  in  the  frank  realism  of  his  thought,  in  a 
wholesome  aversion  to  the  transcendental,  he  is  wholly 
English.  Chaucer's  life  was  spent  at  court  and  in  the  king's 
service  at  home  and  abroad.  Scholar,  courtier,  soldier, 
ambassador,  and  man  of  business — his  was  a  many-sided 
experience,  and  his  knowledge  of  men  was  wide  and  varied. 
That  catholic  sympathy  which  was  an  inherent  quality  of 
his  genius  was  never  chilled  by  the  pride  of  worldly  suc- 
cess nor  embittered  by  disappointment.  And  yet  the  pic- 
ture Chaucer  gives  us  of  the  England  that  he  knew  is 
colored  by  the  "gracious  worldliness"  of  the  prosperous 
man  of  affaire  who  finds  life  much  to  his  liking.  His  Can- 
terbury pilgrims  ride  gayly  through  blooming  lanes  to  the 
music  of  song  and  bagpipe,  shortening  the  way  with  merry 
tales.  All  is  vivid  light  and  color,  buoyant  mirth  and 
badinage,  with  never  a  somber  touch.  The  characteristic 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  125 

figures  of  medieval  English  society  ride  in  this  picturesque 
cavalcade.  First  of  the  merry  company  appears  the  cour- 
teous knight  who  has  proved  his  valor  on  many  an  oriental 
battlefield.  Well  he  loves  "  truth  and  honor,  freedom  and 
courtesy."  He  and  the  blithe  young  squire  who  holds 
pace  at  his  side,  "  a  lover  and  a  lusty  bachelor,"  represent 
the  best  fruit  of  medieval  chivalry.  The  attendant  yeoman, 
"clad  in  coat  and  hood  of  green,"  bearing  in  hand  a 
"mighty  bow,"  may  well  be  one  of  those  who  fought  at 
Crecy  and  Poitiers.  Worthy  to  ride  among 
the  gentry,  in  his  own  estimation  at  least,  is  the 
merchant  with  forked  beard  and  foreign  dress, 
"  boasting  always  the  increase  of  his  winning." 
Of  the  gentry,  too,  are  the  sergeant  of  law, 
"wary  and  wise,"  a  consequential  body  who 
ever  "  seemed  busier  than  he  was,"  and  the  doc- 
tor of  physic  who  has  grown  rich  on  the  Pesti- 
lence and  is  dressed  in  scarlet  and  sky-blue  silk 
like  a  great  gentleman.  The  penniless  clerk  of 
Oxen  ford  bestrides  a  horse  as  lean  "as  is  a  A  youth  of 
rake."  Hollow-eyed  and  sober,  clad  in  thread-  Noble  Birth- 
bare  coat,  it  is  clear  at  a  glance  that  like  his  great  prede- 
cessor, Roger  Bacon,  he  has  spent  all  he  could  beg  or  bor- 
row "on  books  and  on  learning."  Neither  office  nor 
preferment  awaits  his  unworldly  service,  but  his  eagerness 
to  find  and  to  teach  the  truth  is  better  than  a  patent  of 
nobility.  A  very  different  character  is  the  fresh  and  ruddy 
franklin  (free-holder)  of  excellent  appetite,  in  whose  hos- 
pitable hall  it  "  snowed  of  meat  and  drink."  The  worthy 
vassal  of  a  king's  thane,  he  has  many  times  represented  his 
shire  in  Parliament  and  has  even  served  as  sheriff"  of  the 
county  court.  Several  holy  personages  adorn  this  worship- 
ful company,  the  fat  monk  with  bald  head  "that  shines 
as  any  glass,"  an  unlettered  prelate,  who  delights  in  hunt- 


126  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

ing  and  a  good  table  and  rejects  his  order's  discipline  as 
out  of  date. 

"  Full  many  a  dainty  horse  had  he  in  stable, 
And  when  he  rode,  men  might  his  bridle  hear 
Jingling  in  a  whistling  wind  as  clear, 
And  eke  as  loud  as  doth  the  chapel  bell." 

No  less  worldly  is  the  prioress  with  her  simpering  smile 
and  affected  airs  and  graces,  the  sentimental  Madame 
Eglantine,  who  wears  a  love-motto  on  her  brooch  and 
manages  to  give  a  hint  of  coquetry  to  the  severe  black  garb 
of  her  order.  A  more  arrant  hypocrite  than  either  of  these 
is  the  friar,  "wanton  and  merry,"  who  sells  absolution  to 
his  well-to-do  patrons,  holding  that  genuine  penitence  is 
evinced  less  by  tears  and  prayers  than  by  "giving  silver 
to  the  poor  friars."  Humbler  characters  join  in  this  Can- 
terbury pilgrimage  ;  several  craftsmen  dressed  each  in  the 
spruce  livery  of  his  fraternity,  thriving  fellows  these,  good 

gild-brethren  and  honest 
burgesses ;  a  pirate  with 
sunbrowned  visage  and 
viking  beard,  who  sits  his 
nag  with  a  sailor's  awk- 
wardness — a  hard  drinker 
Practicing  with  the  Crossbow.  and  a  hard  fighter  he  ;  a 
reeve  (bailiff),  "a  slender  colerik  man,"  shrewd  and 
thrifty,  the  dread  of  the  tenants,  who  fear  him  as  they  fear 
the  Pestilence ;  and  his  fellow  extortioner,  the  miller,  a 
short,  stout  rascal  with  cunning,  brutal  face,  from  whose 
foul  mouth,  "  as  wide  as  is  a  great  furnace,"  low  jests  and 
obscene  tales  reek  forth.  Their  jovial  peer  in  ribaldry  is 
the  good  wife  of  Bath,  a  buxom  dame  of  florid  countenance, 
who  ambles  easily  along  in  broad  hat  and  scarlet  hose,  gar- 
rulous and  grotesque.  Among  these  lesser  folk  rides  the 
"good  man  of  religion,"  a  parish  priest,  lowly  but  learned, 
and  "  rich  in  holy  thought  and  work."  He  is  a  true  shep- 


***& 

"•^-r-^L 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  127 

herd,  stinting  himself  that  he  may  give  to  the  needy,  and 
sparing  no  pains  or  labor  in  the  tending  of  his  flock. 

"  This  noble  example  to  his  sheep  he  gave, 
That  first  he  wrought  and  afterwards  he  taught." 

His  brother,  the  plowman,  is  a  "peasant  saint "  who  does 
his  whole  duty  by  God  and  his  neighbor. 

"  An  honest  workman  and  a  good  was  he, 
Living  in  peace  and  perfect  charity." 

It  is  a  marvelously  vivid  picture,  a  panorama  of  medieval 
society,  which  teaches  more  of  actual  conditions  than  many 
a  learned  volume  ;  but  it  is  after  all  a  superficial  view  that 
Chaucer  gives  us.     He  does  not 
adequately  represent  the  forces  at 
work  in  fourteenth  century  Eng- 
land.    His  is  the  eye  of  an  artist, 
delighting  in  the  play  of  light  and 
shade,  and  overlooking  the  deeper 
aspects  of  life,  the  strife,  the  aspi- 
ration, the  defeat,  that  make  up 
the  tragedy  of  human  existence. 
He  does  not  trouble  himself  with      ^dy  in  Hunting  Garb' 
the  why  and  the  wherefore  of  folly  and  sin,  with  the  prob- 
lems of  evil  and  loss,  but  laughs  at  human  foibles  and 
takes  pleasure  in  human  graces  with  the  delicate  discrimi- 
nation of  the  connoisseur. 

Not  so  Langland  ;  the  rugged  inartistic  lines  of  this  poor  William  Lang- 
village  priest  bear  witness  to  the  grim  life  battle  waged  by    1332(?)-1399(?). 
the  men  of  humble  birth.    The  world  was  to  him  no  gay   Piers  Plow- 
show  where  a  man  might  look  on  at  the  play,  a  disinterest-   «« Piers  the 

,   Plowman's 
ed  spectator.    Life  was  a  stern  reality  where  the  powers  of  Crede." 

evil  well-nigh   overmastered    the   power   that  makes  for  Wei,  Do-bet, 

and  Do-best." 
righteousness.    Chaucer  could  jest  at  the  corruption  of  the 

clergy,  the  venality  of  the  courts,  the  arrogance  of  the  upper   . 
classes,  the  servile  vices  of  the  poor  ;  for,  well-fed  gentleman 


128  The  Groivth  of  the  English  Nation. 

that  he  was,  his  individual  happiness  and  that  of  his  social 
order  was  not  at  stake,  but  to  Langland,  born  and  bred 
among  the  people,  making  their  struggle  and  sorrow  his 
own,  the  misery  of  a  world  out  of  joint  was  a  matter  of 
galling  personal  experience. 

In  the  Vision  of  Piers  Plowman,  we  are  shown,  not  a 
jocund  cavalcade  riding  through  April  sunshine,  but  a  pan- 
orama of  busy  toil.  Wandering  on  Malvern  Hills,  bathing  a 
troubled  spirit  in  the  beauty  of  a  May  morning,  the  poet 
sinks  down  in  weariness  by  a  brookside  and  falls  asleep.  He 
dreams  that  the  world  lies  before  him,  "  a  fair  field  full  of 
folk."  Toward  the  east,  standing  out  clear  against  the  sun- 
light, rises  a  tower,  which  is  the  habitation  of  Truth,  the 
Father  and  Redeemer  of  men.  On  the  other  hand  the  ground 
sinks  to  a  deep  vale  where  lies  a  dungeon,  "the  castle  of 
care.'?  Wrong  dwells  therein,  the  Father  of  Falsehood,  the 
Tempter.  In  the  plain  between,  all  manner  of  men,  the 
mean  and  the  rich,  are  "working  and  wandering  as  the 
world  asketh,"  unconscious  of  the  influences  that  play  upon 
them,  moving  them  for  evil  or  for  good.  Serfs  toil  at  the 
plow,  with  rare  intervals  for  pastime,  painfully  winning 
what  their  glutton  lords  will  soon  waste  in  revelry.  Mer- 
chants buy  and  sell,  making  snug  fortunes  in  thriving  trade. 
Barons  are  here,  and  their  bondsmen,  burgesses  and  city  rab- 
ble, side  by  side.  All  manner  of  artisans,  men  and  women, 
ply  their  trades,  bakers  and  brewers  and  butchers,  tailors 
and  tinkers  and  weavers  of  woolen  and  linen  cloth.  These 
are  hardy  craftsmen  and  well  able  to  earn  their  own  living; 
but  one  sees  others,  lazy  louts,  good  for  nothing  but  spading 
and  ditching,  who  while  away  the  tedium  of  the  day's  labor 
with  ribald  songs.  Some  there  are  who  manage  to  live  with- 
out work.  These  wander  through  the  land  singing  gay  glees 
in  rich  men's  halls,  or,  feigning  folly,  earn  many  a  good 
penny  by  tumbling  and  jesting.  Stout  beggars,  too,  with 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  129 

whining  lies,  entreat  the  alms  that  will  be  spent  in  drunken 
riot.  Here  and  there  in  the  motley  throng  run  cooks  and 
their  serving  boys  crying  "  Hot  pies,  hot !  Nice  roast  pigs 
and  geese  !  Come  and  dine,  come  ! "  while  taverners  stand 
at  the  inn-door  calling  out  the  merits  of  their  choice  drinks, 
the  red  wine  of  Gascony  and  the  white  wine  of  Alsace. 
Some,  turning  their  backs  upon  such  fleshly  delights,  give 
themselves  to  prayer  and  penance,  hoping  to  "win  heaven's 
bliss."  A  hundred  or  more  sly  fellows  are  hanging  about, 
law  sergeants,  "  who  plead  a  case  but  for  pence  and  pounds, 
never  for  love  of  our  Lord."  "  Thou  mightest  easier  meas- 
ure the  mist  on  Malvern  Hills  than  get  a  mumble  from  their 
mouths  till  they  see  the  glint  of  silver."  This  picture  of 
the  world,  as  it  looked  to  an  honest  priest,  would  be  incom- 
plete without  the  pious  rout  of  monks  and  friars,  pilgrims 
and  palmers,  that  go  to  Rome,  to  do  honor  to  the  saints,  and 
return  with  "  leave  to  lie  all  their  life  after  "  ;  wanton  her- 
mits, long-legged  lubbers,  who,  being  too  lazy  to  work, 
wear  the  celibate's  habit  and  live  at  their  ease ;  friars  in 
plenty — all  the  four  orders — preaching  to  the  people  for 
their  own  profit,  interpreting  the  Scriptures  to  suit  their 
own  purposes.  In  the  midst  stands  a  pardoner,  armed 
with  a  papal  bull,  and  professing  to  have  power  to  absolve 
men  from  falsehoods  and  broken  vows.  The  ignorant  peo- 
ple believe  him  and  throng  to  his  feet,  bringing  rings  and 
brooches  and  hard-earned  pennies  to  pay  for  the  pope's 
indulgence.  Langland  pours  out  the  vials  of  his  wrath 
upon  the  monks  and  friars.  Toward  the  secular  clergy  he 
is  somewhat  less  severe,  but  he  says  that  the  parish  priests 
complain  that  their  people  are  too  poor  to  support  them 
"  since  the  Pestilence  time,"  and  depicts  them  begging  leave 
to  go  up  to  London,  where  they  may  win  silver  by  singing 
masses  for  the  rich  in  sculptured  chantries.  The  superior 
clergy,  too,  desert  their  rural  charges  and  flock  to  London 


130  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

with  the  rest,  hoping  for  some  fat  office  in  the  king's  em- 
ploy. 

The  Vision  of  Piers  Plowman  was  one  of  the  most  popular 
books  of  its  day.  Written  in  the  rough  vernacular,  its  allit- 
erative verse  caught  the  ear  of  the  people  and  fixed  itself  in 
peasant  memory.  Reading  was  still  a  rare  accomplish- 
ment, but  this  poet  of  democracy  had  disciples  and  interpre- 


Balloou  Ball.    Fourteenth  Century. 

ters  who  carried  his  message  far  and  wide.  Gathered  about 
a  tavern  table  or  lounging  on  the  village  green,  the  group 
of  rustics  listened  with  short,  gruff  laugh  while  some  gaunt 
clerk  of  Oxenford  read  the  story  of  the  humble  Plowman, 
the  Christ  returned  to  earth,  who  so  gently  teaches  knight 
and  cleric  their  duty,  guiding  wandering  pilgrims  to  the 
well-nigh  forgotten  shrine  of  Truth.  The  seed  so  sown 
bore  fruit  in  the  Lollard  movement  and  the  Peasant  Revolt. 

WICLIF  AND  THE  REFORM  IN  RELIGION. 

This  is  the  degenerate  period  of  the  English  Church. 
Wealth  and  power  had  so  far  contaminated  the  upper 
ranks  of  the  hierarchy  that  the  superior  clergy  regarded 
themselves  rather  as  privileged  recipients  of  the  contribu- 
tions of  the  faithful,  than  as  the  servants  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  The  ambitious  and  the  lazy  both  found  holy  orders 
much  to  their  liking,  and  crowded  into  the  Church  and  the 
monastic  establishments,  until  they  far  outnumbered  the 

Wealth  and         religious  requirements  of  the  nation.      There  were  some 
corruption  of 

the  Church          20,000  ecclesiastics  in  a  population  of  2,000,000.    The  Church 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  131 

held  fully  one  third  of  the  landed  property  in  England, 
while  the  income  from  the  offerings  of  the  people  amounted 
to  twice  the  royal  revenue. 

The  regular  clergy  were  even  more  corrupt  than  the 
seculars.  Contemporary  literature  gives  abundant  evidence  and  monas- 
that  they  were  held  in  less  reverence  by  the  people.  The 
friars,  so  zealous  for  reform  on  their  first  coming  into 
England,  had  degenerated  in  their  turn  and  become  mere 
servile  bigots  and  shameless  mendicants.  The  popes,  to 
whom  the  friars  were  immediately  responsible,  far  from 
calling  them  to  account  for  breach  of  their  vows,  set  them 
a  demoralizing  example.  When  the  spiritual  Franciscans, 
endeavoring  to  reform  their  order,  taught  that  the  posses- 
sion of  wealth  was  inconsistent  with  Apostolic  Chris- 
tianity, they  were  denounced  by  John  XXII.  as  heretics. 

The  influence  of  the  Church  over  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
the  people  was  not  strong  enough  to  enable  her  to  hold  her 
own  against  the  protest  raised  by  the  wakened  thought  of 
England.  Chaucer's  polished  sarcasm  and  Langland's 
fierce  denunciation  were  echoed  by  many  lesser  observers. 
Jests  and  jibes  against  the  clergy  found  ready  listeners  in 
the  hut  of  the  peasant  and  at  the  court  of  the  king.  Yet 
the  spirit  of  religion  was  not  dead  in  England.  Men  knew 
and  loved  righteousness  and  pure  devotion.  "When  all 
treasures  are  tested,  Truth  is  the  best,"  says  Langland  in 
the  person  of  Holy  Church,  and  Chaucer  reverences  the 
good  priest  who  practiced  even  better  than  he  preached. 

Protest  against  the  pretensions  of  the  Church  found  ex- 
pression in  deed  as  well  as  in  word.    A  series  of  Parliamen- 
tary enactments  undertook  to  restrain  the  power  of  the 
pope  and  to  check  the  worldly  ambitions  of  the  English 
clergy.    The  Statute  of  Praemunire  forbade  the  reception   statules  of 
or  execution  of  bulls  from  the  pope,  together  with  any  ap-  ^jf^I^Pr 
peal  to  the  papal  court.     The  Statute  of  Provisors  forced  visors  (135J)- 


132 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Twenty  thou- 
sand marks  a 
year  were  sent 
to  the  papal 
treasury. 


1305-1378. 


l;?78-1439. 


the  pope  to  surrender  the  practice  of  appointing  foreigners 
to  English  benefices.  In  1366,  the  tribute  of  1,000  marks, 
which  John  had  promised  to  the  Holy  See,  but  which  had 
not  been  paid  for  thirty  years,  was  refused  once  for  all. 
The  Good  Parliament  protested  against  other  papal  exac- 
tions. "  The  pope's  revenue  from  England  alone  is  larger 
than  that  of  any  prince  in  Christendom.  God  gave  his 
sheep  to  be  pastured,  not  to  be  shaven  and  shorn."  The 
Parliament  of  1377  mooted  the  question  whether,  in  view 
of  the  impoverished  state  of  the  country,  Peter's  pence 
might  not  properly  be  withheld.  Such  bold  defiance  of 
the  Holy  See  was  justified  in  the  minds  of  contemporary 
Englishmen  by  the  degenerate  state  of  the  papacy.  These 
are  the  years  of  the  "Babylonish  captivity."  The  popes 
dwelt  in  exile  at  Avignon,  an  isolated  bit  of  papal 
domain  which  lay  so  near  the  territories  of  the  king  of 
France  that  it  could  hardly  escape  his  influence.  The 
English  people  scoffed  at  "the  French  pope"  and  sus- 
pected him  of  being  but  a  puppet  in  the  hands  of  their  foe. 
In  1378  came  the  Great  Schism ;  and  for  fifty  years  the 
rival  popes  of  Rome  and  Avignon  contested  the  powers  and 
privileges  of  the  Holy  See.  This  "  uncouth  dissension  " 
further  alienated  the  loyalty  of  all  thinking  men  till  it  be- 
came evident  that  the  reform  could  not  long  be  delayed. 
The  attack  on  the  English  clergy  was  led  by  John  of 
Gaunt.  The  political  honors  of  the  great  churchmen  were 
intolerable  to  this  ambitious  prince,  and  he  set  about  curb- 
ing their  pretensions.  A  statute  passed  in  1371  declared  the 
clergy  unfit  to  hold  office,  and  a  tax  was  levied  on  church 
lauds  acquired  since  1292. 

On  the  part  of  Lancaster  and  the  lords,  this  assault 
on  the  power  and  wealth  of  the  Church  was  not  disinter- 
ested, but  they  found  a  champion  whose  single-hearted 
zeal  for  reform  cannot  be  called  in  question.  John  Wiclif, 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  133 

the  first  great  Protestant,  was  a  learned  doctor  of  Oxford,  John  Wiclif 
whose  fame  had  secured  him  the  honorable  post  of  chap-  132(>-1384- 
lain  to  the  king.  His  views  on  the  relation  of  Church  and 
State  had  attracted  the  attention  of  John  of  Gaunt,  and 
that  crafty  politician  had  conferred  upon  him  the  doubtful 
favor  of  his  patronage.  Wiclif  had  ably  seconded  the 
endeavor  of  Parliament  to  restrict  the  privileges  of  the 
pope  and  the  English  clergy,  arguing  that  such  power  and 
wealth  were  inconsistent  with  the  teachings  of  Christ.  The 
essential  feature  of  Wiclif  s  reform  was  the  endeavor  to 
recall  the  Church  to  Apostolic  Christianity.  Since  God 
had  revealed  himself  as  the  Redeemer  of  men,  each  human 
soul  might  have  access  to  the  divine  life  and  was  respon- 
sible to  God  alone.  The  mediation  of  the  priest  was 
unnecessary,  and  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy  with  its  pride 
and  its  greed  for  power  was  a  fungous  growth  upon  the 
Church  of  Christ.  The  claim  of  a  sinful  pope  to  act  as 
vicegerent  of  Christ  was  blasphemous.  No  authority 
could  be  legitimate  that  was  not  sanctioned  by  God.  Ruler 
and  priest  alike  held  of  him.  Obedience  need  not  be  ren- 
dered nor  tribute  paid  to  an  unrighteous  lord,  though  he 
were  the  king  himself. 

Such  doctrines  quickly  called  down    upon  Wiclif  the   opposition  of 
condemnation  of  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.    The  Friars  8" 

raised  the  first  cry  of  alarm.  Their  hypocrisy  and  im- 
morality had  excited  the  indignation  of  Wiclif,  and  they 
had  writhed  under  many  a  scathing  denunciation  at  his 
hands.  Now  his  bold  utterances  against  the  papal  suprem- 
acy gave  them  opportunity  for  revenge.  Courtenay, 
Bishop  of  London,  the  champion  of  clerical  privilege  and 
sworn  foe  of  John  of  Gaunt,  summoned  Wiclif  to  defend 
himself  against  the  charge  of  heresy.  Lancaster  main- 
tained his  cause,  and  the  citizens  of  London  made  a 
demonstration  in  his  behalf;  but  the  attack  was  renewed  • 


134 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Persecution 
of  Wiclif . 


Papal  con- 
demnation. 


and  he  was  finally  condemned  by  a  synod  of  the  clergy. 
The  last  eight  years  of  Wiclif  8  life  were  overshadowed 
by  persecution  so  persistent,  so  formidable,  that  a  feebler 
spirit  would  have  quailed  before  it,  but  he  maintained 
undaunted  confidence  in  God  and  in  the  truth  as  he 
saw  it.  The  faith  he  defended  grew  clearer  while  he 
argued.  Pardons,  indulgences,  pilgrimages,  were  one  after 
another  declared  of  no  avail.  The  climax  was  reached 
when  he  boldly  denied  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation, 
the  corner  stone  of  priestly  authority.  At  this  his  friends 
wavered.  John  of  Gaunt  protested  and  withdrew  his  sup- 
port. The  Peasant  Revolt,  which  broke  out  at  this  in- 
opportune moment,  was  attributed  to  Wiclif  s  subversive 
doctrines.  The  condemnation  of  the  synod  was  at  last  ac- 
cepted by  the  university,  and  the  great  teacher  was  obliged 
to  withdraw  to  his  parish  church  at  Lutterworth.  Here,  as 
if  despairing  to  accomplish  reform  by  the  aid  of  princes 
and  learned  men,  he  devoted  his  energies  to  translating  the 
Bible  into  the  speech  of  the  people  and  training  disciples — 
his  "poor  priests" — who  should  perpetuate  his  message. 
In  1384  he  was  summoned  to  Rome  to  defend  his  doctrines 
before  the  pope,  but  a  stroke  of  paralysis  rendered  the 
journey  a  physical  impossibility.  He  sent  a  written  state- 
ment of  his  faith,  saying,  "  I  joyfully  admit  myself  bound 
to  tell  to  all  true  men  the  belief  that  I  hold,  and  especially 
to  the  pope  ;  for  I  suppose  that  if  my  faith  be  rightful  and 
given  of  God,  the  pope  will  gladly  confirm  it,  and  if  my 
faith  be  error,  the  pope  will  wisely  amend  it."  These  were 
bold  words  to  address  to  the  tribunal  where  heresy  was 
more  hateful  than  sin.  The  Vicar  of  Christ  immediately 
recognized  in  the  advocate  of  poverty  and  righteousness  an 
arch-enemy  of  the  Church  of  God.  Wiclif  died  before  the 
pope's  anathema  could  reach  him,  but  the  sentence  was  ex- 
ecuted without  delay.  His  doctrine  was  denounced  as 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  135 

heresy,  his  writings  were  condemned,  and  his  poor  body,* 
exhumt-d  from  Lutterworth  churchyard,  was  burned  by   W15. 
the  common  hangman. 

Not  so,  however,  was  the  work  of  the  great  reformer  un- 
done. The  students  of  Oxford  cherished  his  memory  and 
the  people  secretly  revered  the  valiant  advocate  of  the 
rights  of  man  against  iniquitous  privilege.  His  "  poor 
priests"  became  most  zealous  evangelists.  They  are 

described  in  a  contemporary  statute  as  "  going  from  county  statute  against 

preachers  of 

to  county  and  from  town  to  town,  in  certain  habits,  under  heresy  (1382) 

never  as- 

dissimulation  of  great  holiness,  preaching  daily  not  only  in   sented  to  by 

House  of 

churches  and  churchyards,  but  also  in  markets,  fairs,  and  Commons. 

other  open  places  where  a  great  congregation  of  people  is." 
The  writings  burned  in  accordance  with  papal  decree  were 
reproduced  with  marvelous  rapidity  and  copies  of  Wiclifs 
Bible  f  were  furtively  read  in  the  houses  of  the  nobility,  in 
the  court  of  the  king.  Knighton  says,  doubtless  with  some 
exaggeration,  that  every  second  man  one  met  was  a  Wiclif- 
ite. 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

A  reform  movement  of  even  greater  significance  than 
that  of  Wiclif  and  the  Lollards  was  agitating  the  people 
during  this  vital  century.  The  laboring  population — the 
ignored  nine  tenths  of  the  nation — were  waking  to  self-con- 
sciousness and  were  striving  to  free  themselves  from  the 
fetters  of  feudal  dependence  and  to  better  their  lot  in  life. 
This  upward  movement  had  its  origin  in  the  industrial 
prosperity  of  the  period.  England  was  sufficiently  removed 


*  Tradition  says  that  the  ashes  were  scattered  in  a  stream  nearby, 
a  branch  of  the  Avon.    Hence  the  popular  rhyme. 
"  The  Avon  to  the  Severn  runs, 

The  Severn  to  the  sea ; 
And  Wiclifs  dust  shall  spread  abroad, 

Wide  as  the  waters  be/' 

t  Anne  of  Bohemia,  first  queen  of  Richard  II.,  possessed  a  copy  of 
Wiclifs  Bible.  Through  her  the  works  of  the  English  reformer  found 
their  way  to  Bohemia,  and  there  inspired  the  ill-fated  protest  of  HUBS 
and  Jerome. 


136 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Commercial 
prosperity. 


Exports  of 
woolen  cloth. 
1354,5,000 
pieces. 
1509,  80,000 
pieces. 
1547, 120,000 
pieces. 


Artisan  class. 


from  the  imbroglios  of  the  Continent  to  escape  the  devas- 
tating wars  that  checked  productive  enterprise.  The  quar- 
rels in  which  the  country  was  involved  by  the  ambitious 
projects  of  her  kings,  were  fought  out  on  foreign  soil.  They 
did  not  directly  interfere  with  England's  industrial  devel- 
opment. In  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  an  effort  was  made 
to  advance  the  commercial  interests,  and,  hence,  the  tax- 
paying  power  of  the  kingdom.  Foreign  merchants  were 
admitted  to  full  trade  privileges  within  the  realm,  and 
when  they  encountered  the  jealous  opposition  of  the 
English  traders,  were  taken  under  the  special  protection  of 
the  king.  Manufacturers,  moreover,  were  systematically 
encouraged.  England  had  been,  hitherto,  an  agricultural 
country,  and  the  wool  cut  from  the  backs  of  English  sheep 
had  been  sent  to  Flanders  to  be  woven  and  dyed.  Only  the 
coarsest  cloths  were  manufactured  at  home,  for  skill  and 
implements  were  still  of  the  rudest.  With  a  view  to  devel- 
oping this  "infant  industry,"  Edward  III.  offered  the 
king's  protection  to  Flemish  artisans,  who,  driven  from 
their  own  land  by  civil  strife,  gladly  availed  themselves 
of  the  royal  favor.  They  settled  in  London,  Norwich,  and 
the  eastern  counties,  and  gradually  taught  English  work- 
men better  methods  of  manufacture.  The  same  policy  was 
carried  out  in  this  and  later  centuries  by  heavy  duties 
imposed  on  the  importation  of  foreign  cloths  and  the  ex- 
portation of  wool.  By  1600  woolen  cloth  had  become  one 
of  the  most  important  articles  of  export. 

This  development  of  the  woolen  industry  was  accom- 
panied by  a  marked  increase  in  the  numbers,  wealth,  and 
influence  of  the  artisan  class.  The  medieval  workman 
occupied  a  very  different  position  from  that  of  the  modern 
factory  operative.  Machinery  had  not  yet  superseded  skill, 
and  labor,  not  capital,  was  the  sine  qua  non  of  industry.  The 
artisan  was  trained  for  his  craft  by  several  years'  appren- 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  137 

ticeship,  and  might  spend  several  years  more  in  the  trade 
as  a  journeyman  laborer  before  his  education  was  regarded 
as  complete.  The  fully  accredited  workman  who  had  saved 
enough  money  to  buy  an  outfit  and  hire  a  shop  could  set 
up  for  himself  as  a  master  crafts- 
man. As  such,  he  bought  his 
raw  material,  and  made  it  up 
with  as  much  excellence  and 

beauty  as  his  skill  allowed.     The 

Bandy  Ball.    Fourteenth 
finished    article   was  frequently  Century. 

displayed  in  his  shop  window  for  sale.  With  the  accumu- 
lation of  means,  he  added  to  the  number  of  his  looms,  and 
hired  journeymen  or  took  on  apprentices  as  they  were 
needed.  He  was  capitalist,  employer,  and  workman  com- 
bined. The  artisans  of  any  particular  town  who  followed 
one  craft  soon  saw  the  advantage  of  uniting  for  the  further- 
ance of  their  common  interests.  Artisan  associations  arose 
spontaneously  wherever  there  was  a  considerable  body  of 
men  engaged  in  the  same  trade,  and  were  called  "craft- 
gilds"  or  "fellowships."  Several  such  gilds  trace  their 
origin  back  to  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  but 
the  political  and  economic  conditions  of  the  period  under 
consideration  were  especially  favorable  to  the  extension  of 
the  system.  By  the  close  of  the  four- 
teenth century  there  was  hardly  a 
trade  or  occupation  that  was  not  so 
organized.*  A  monopoly  of  its  partic- 
ular industry  was  accorded  to  the  gild, 

Shuttle^**.   Four-      and  H  was  held    responsible   by  the 
teenth  Century.         town  authorities  for  the  honest  con- 
duct of  that  trade.     Fraudulent  sales,  dishonest  or  bungling 


*  There  were  some  eighty  chartered  craft-gilds  in  London.  Twelve  of 
these  still  exist,  viz.:  Mercers,  Grocers,  Drapers,  Fishmongers,  Gold- 
smiths, Skinners,  Merchant  Tailors,  Haberdashers,  Salters,  Iron- 
mongers, Vintners,  and  Cloth-makers. 


138  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

workmanship,  were  punished  by  fine  or  withdrawal  of  the 
gild  privileges.  Unruly  members  were  tried  by  the  officers 
of  the  gild  and  then  handed  over  to  the  town  authorities 
for  punishment.  The  craft,  no  less  than  the  merchant  gild, 
undertook  the  relief  of  sick  or  disabled  members.  Hospitals 
were  provided  and  charitable  funds,  from  which  accidental 
losses  might  be  made  good,  and  widows  and  orphans  pen- 
sioned. These  artisan  associations  acquired  wealth  and  in- 
fluence hardly  inferior  to  that  of  the  older  trade  gilds. 
They  had  a  co-ordinate  part  in  the  town  government  and 
in  the  election  of  the  two  burgesses  who  represented  the 
interests  of  the  municipality  in  Parliament.  During  this 
and  the  succeeding  century,  the  burgess  members  of  the 
House  of  Commons  probably  played  but  a  shamefaced  part 
in  the  presence  of  the  knights  and  court  lawyers  who  con- 
stituted the  aristocratic  element  in  that  composite  assem- 
bly ;  but  they  were  gaining  confidence  with  experience,  and 
bade  fair  to  become  in  time  the  bold  and  progressive  party. 
In  manor  as  well  as  in  town,  new  forces  were  coming 
into  action,  and  the  restricted  conditions  of  medieval  life 
were  giving  way  before  the  augmenting  vitality  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  serf  population,  ignored  and  despised  by  lord  and 

townsman  alike,  with  no  voice  in  the  local  or  national 
The  serfs. 

government  and  no  recourse  against  oppression,  was  wak- 
ing to  a  sense  of  its  wrongs,  making  ready  to  assert  its 
right  to  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  Here, 
as  in  the  town  community,  economic  influences  were  at 
work  that,  by  bettering  the  material  condition  of  the  peo- 
ple, inspired  them  with  courage  to  demand  freedom. 
Throughout  the  fourteenth  century  there  was  a  general  and 
increasing  tendency  to  commute  labor  for  money  service. 
Just  as  the  king  had  been  ready  to  convert  military  service 
into  scutage,  so  the  lord  found  it  convenient  to  receive  a 
payment  of  silver  in  lieu  of  the  labor  hitherto  extorted 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  139 

with  so  much  difficulty  from  the  reluctant  cultivators  of 
his  manor  lands.  Wherever  this  was  accomplished,  the 
demesne  was  henceforth  tilled  by  hired  laborers,  and  the 
serfs  were  left  free  to  care  for  their  own  holdings,  for  which 
they  still  paid  rent  in  money  and  produce.  The  thrifty 
serf  was  now  in  a  fair  way  to  become  a  small  peasant  pro- 
prietor, while  his  less  industrious  or  less  fortunate  fellow 
might  lose  his  claim  to  the  land  and  drift  into  the  class 
of  free  laborers.  In  any  case  a  long  stride  was  taken 
toward  complete  emancipation  when  a  man  rid  himself  of 
the  old  degrading  services. 

From  the  two  great  disasters  of  the  century,  the  famine 
(1313  and  '15)  and  the  Black  Death,  the  working  classes 
reaped  an  incidental  advantage.  The  great  falling  off  in 
the  number  of  laborers,  especially  after  the  Black  Death, 
occasioned  a  rise  of  wages  which  was  sufficient  distinctly  to 
advance  the  material  well-being  of  the  surviving  popula- 
tion. Langland  grumbles  at  the  preposterous  demands  of 
the  aspiring  hind : 

"  Laborers  that  have  no  land  to  live  on  but  their  hands 
Deign  not  to  dine  to-day  on  yesterday's  victuals. 
No  penny  ale  will  pay  them  nor  yet  a  piece  of  bacon 
Unless  it  be  fresh  flesh  or  fish  fried  or  baked  ; 

And  it  must  be  "  hot  and  still  hotter  "  lest  their  stomachs  be  chilled 
And  unless  he  be  well-paid,  he  will  chide  at  fate 
And  bewail  the  time  that  he  was  born  a  workman." 

Alarmed  by  the  exorbitant  demands  of  their  former  statute  of 
bondmen,  the  landlords  appealed  to  the  king,  who,  with- 
out waiting  to  convene  Parliament,  issued  an  ordinance  de- 
creeing that  the  former  rates  of  wages  should  be  enforced. 
"  Because  a  great  part  of  the  people  and  especially  of  the 
workmen  have  lately  died  of  the  Pestilence,  many,  seeing 
the  necessity  of  masters  and  the  great  scarcity  of  servants, 
will  not  serve  unless  they  may  receive  excessive  wages," 
and  considering  the  "  grievous  incommodities  "  which  from 


140  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

the  lack  especially  of  plowmen  and  such  laborers  may 
hereafter  come  "the  king  ordains  that  every  man  and 
woman  of  whatsoever  condition  he  be,  bond  or  free,  able  in 
body  and  within  the  age  of  three-score  years,  not  living  in 
merchandise,  not  exercising  any  craft,  nor  having  property 
of  his  own  whereof  he  may  live,  nor  land  of  his  own  to 
till,"  shall  be  bound  to  serve  the  lord  who  shall  require  his 
labor  and  to  take  only  such  wages  as  were  customarily 
paid  in  his  parish  before  the  Pestilence.  Laborers  refusing 
to  work  on  these  terms  were  liable  to  imprisonment,  and 
masters  offering  more  than  the  legal  rate  of  wages  should 
forfeit  double  the  sum  so  paid.  The  artificers  and  work- 
men of  the  towns  were  made  subject  to  like  restrictions 
and  penalties.  Ten  statutes  to  the  same  import  were  en- 
acted within  the  next  fifty  years,  each  imposing  heavier 
Rise  of  wages,  penalties  than  the  last,  but  in  vain.  Wages  rose  steadily* 

from  an  average  of 
threepence  a  day,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  cen- 
tury, to  sixpence  at  its 
close.  The  several  Stat- 
utes of  Laborers  were  so 

The  Unearthing  of  a  Fox.  many  attempts  to  dam 

an  incoming  tide.  The  workmen  had  the  vantage-ground, 
and  were  able  to  enforce  their  claims.  There  is  evidence 
that  they  combined  to  resist  any  return  to  the  old  rates, 
and  formed  organizations  quite  comparable  to  the  modern 
trades  unions.  Violent  outbreaks  were  not  infrequent. 
The  employing  class  took  alarm,  and,  being  all-influential 
in  Parliament,  passed,  in  1360,  the  statute  against  "covin 
and  conspiracy,"  which  declared  alliances  of  workmen 
against  their  masters  illegal. 


*  From  three  pence  in  1300  to  four  pence  in  1330 ;  five  pence  in  1370,  and 
six  pence  in  1400. 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  141 

Legislation  could  not,  however,  prevent  combination  ThePea8ant 
among  men  who  suffered  the  same  wrongs  and  hoped  Revolt-  1381- 
for  a  common  remedy.  Secret  associations  were  formed, 
with  recognized  leaders  and  passwords.  It  is  altogether 
probable  that  the  more  radical  of  the  Lollard  priests  aided 
the  movement  and  served  as  messengers  between  the  differ- 
ent sections  of  the  country.  Wiclif  s  saying,  that  obedience 
was  not  due  to  an  unrighteous  lord,  was  interpreted  to 
give  license  for  revolt.  Matters  came  to  a  crisis  in  1381 
when  the  people  rose  in  insurrection.  Adequate  cause  for 
the  revolt  may  be  found  in  the  discontent  of  the  laborers 
and  the  protests  of  the  villeins  against  the  ignoble  services 
still  exacted  by  their  lords  ;  but  the  immediate  occasion 
was  the  imposition  of  a  poll  tax  in  1380.  An  attempt  had 
been  made  to  distribute  the  burden  according  to  wealth 
and  station  ;  the  rich  merchant  or  landowner  was  to  pay 

sixty   groats,    the    poorest   workman   no  less   than  one. 

A  groat*=4d., 
For  every  child  above  fifteen  years  the  tax  was  exacted.   or4s.  in  money 

To  the  aggrieved  peasant,  the  tax  was  exorbitant,  and  its 
ruthless  collection  seemed  the  last  unendurable  straw.  The 
revolt  broke  out  simultaneously  in  Kent,  Essex,  and  Hert- 
fordshire, and  spread  with  marvelous  rapidity  into  all  the 
southeastern  counties.  There  were  similar  risings  in  dis- 
tricts as  remote  as  York  and  Lancashire  and  Devon.  All 
accounts  of  the  insurrection  are  written  from  the  land- 
owner's point  of  view.  Froissart's  account  sounds  like  the 
report  of  a  labor  riot  given  by  the  "capitalist  press"  of 
to-day.  "There  happened  in  England  great  commotions 
among  the  lower  ranks  of  the  people,  by  which  England 
was  near  ruined  without  resource.  Never  was  a  country 
in  such  jeopardy  as  this  was  at  that  period,  and  all  through 
the  too  great  comfort  of  the  commonalty.  It  is  marvelous 
from  what  a  trifle  this  pestilence  arose.  .  .  .  It  is  cus- 
tomary in  England,  as  well  as  in  several  other  countries, 


142  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

for  the  nobility  to  have  great  privileges  over  the  common- 
alty whom  they  keep  in  bondage ;  that  is  to  say,  they  are 
bound  by  law  and  custom  to  plow  the  lands  of  gentlemen, 
to  harvest  the  grain,  to  carry  it  home  to  the  barn,  to  thresh 
and  winnow  it ;  they  are  also  bound  to  harvest  the  hay  and 
carry  it  home.  ...  In  the  counties  of  Kent,  Essex, 
Sussex,  and  Bedford,  these  services  are  more  oppressive 
than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  kingdom.  The  evil-disposed  in 
these  districts  began  to  rise,  saying  that  they  were  too 
severely  oppressed.  .  .  .  This  they  would  no  longer 
bear,  but  had  determined  to  be  free  ;  and  if  they  labored  or 
did  any  other  works  for  their  lords,  they  would  be  paid  for 
it.  A  crazy  priest  in  the  county  of  Kent,  called  John  Ball, 
who,  for  his  absurd  preaching,  had  been  thrice  confined  in 
the  prison  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was  greatly 
instrumental  in  inflaming  them  with  those  ideas.  He  was 
accustomed  every  Sunday  after  mass,  as  the  people  were 
coming  out  of  the  church,  to  preach  to  them  in  the  market- 
place, and  assemble  a  crowd  around  him  to  whom  he 
would  say  :  '  My  good  friends,  things  cannot  go  on  well  in 
England,  nor  ever  will,  until  everything  shall  be  in  com- 
mon ;  when  there  shall  be  neither  vassal  nor  lord,  and  all 
distinctions  leveled ;  when  the  lords  shall  be  no  more 

masters  than  ourselves.  How 
ill  they  have  used  us  !  And  for 
what  reason  do  they  thus  hold 
us  in  bondage  ?  Are  we  not  all 
Spearing  a  Boar.  Fourteenth  descended  from  the  same  pa- 
rents, Adam  and  Eve  ?  .  .  . 

They  are  clothed  in  velvets  and  rich  stuffs,  ornamented 
with  ermine  and  other  furs,  while  we  are  forced  to  wear 
poor  cloth ;  they  have  wine,  spices,  and  fine  bread,  when 
we  have  only  the  refuse  of  straw,  and,  if  we  drink,  it 
must  be  water ;  they  have  handsome  seats  and  manors, 


Rise  of  the  Commons.  143 

when  we  must  brave  the  wind  and  rain  in  our  labors  in  the 
field  ;  but  it  is  from  our  labor  they  have  wherewith  to  sup- 
port their  pomp.    We  are  called  slaves,  and  if  we  do  not 
perform  our  services  we  are  beaten  ;  and  we  have  not  an 
overlord  to  whom  we  can  complain,  or  who  wishes  to  hear 
us  and  do  us  justice.    Let  us  go  to  the  king,  who  is  young, 
and  remonstrate  with  him  on  our  servitude  ;  telling  him 
that    we    must  have  it    otherwise,  or  that  we  shall  find 
a   remedy   for   it   ourselves.' "    The    insurgents   first  at- 
tacked the  manor  houses,  and  committed  considerable  vio- 
lence, being  bent  on  destroying  the  court-rolls  which  re- 
corded their  ancient  servile  dues.  Then 
they  set  out  for  London,  marching  in 
scattered  detachments,  village  by  vil- 
lage.   Their  leader,  Wat  Tyler,  whom 
Froissart  describes  as  "  a  bad  man  and 
a  great  enemy  to  the  nobility,"  had 
learned  something  of  generalship  in  the 
French  wars.    Arrived  at  London,  a  rabble  of  some  100,000 
men,  not  one  in  twenty  armed,  they  found  the  gates  closed 

and  the  government  prepared  for  resistance.    The  common 

Wat  Tyler, 
people  of  London,  however,  sympathized  with  the  revolt. 

In  response  to  their  protests,  the  gates  were  opened  and  the 
insurgents  entered  the  city.  Some  violence  was  inevitable. 
Savoy  Palace,  the  residence  of  John  of  Gaunt,  was  burned. 
The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who,  as  king's  chancellor, 
had  proposed  the  poll  tax,  was  beheaded,  together  with  many 
lawyers  and  some  unfortunate  Flemings  and  Lombards. 
Meanwhile,  the  king  and  his  counselors,  safely  ensconced 
in  the  Tower,  debated  what  might  be  done.  Should  they 
gather  the  nobles  and  their  retainers,  and,  falling  upon  the 
rebels  in  the  night,  kill  them  ' '  like  flies ' '  ?  This  they  dared 
not  do  for  fear  of  the  sympathetic  populace.  "  Sir,"  said 
the  king's  counselors,  "if  you  can  appease  them  by  fair 


144 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Seven  thou- 
sand are  said 
to  have  per- 
ished. 


words,  it  will  be  so  much  the  better,  and  good  humoredly 
grant  them  what  they  ask ;  for  should  we  begin  what  we 
cannot  go  through,  we  shall  never  be  able  to  recover  it ;  it 
will  be  all  over  with  us  and  our  heirs,  and  England  will  be 
a  desert."  It  was  determined  to  treat  with  the  enemy,  and 
the  king  sent  orders  that  they  should  retire  to  "a  hand- 
some meadow  at  Mile-end,  where,  in  the  summer,  people 
go  to  amuse  themselves."  Arrived  at  the  place,  the  young 
king  rode  forward  bravely  enough,  saying  :  "  My  good  peo- 
ple, I  am  your  king  and  your  lord ;  what  is  it  that  you  want, 
and  what  do  you  wish  to  say  to  me?"  Those  who  heard 
him  answered :  "  We  wish  thou  wouldst  make  us  free 
forever,  us,  our  heirs,  and  our  lands,  and  that  we  should  be 
no  longer  called  slaves  nor  held  in  bondage."  The  king 
replied:  "I  grant  your  wish;  now,  therefore,  return  to 
your  homes,  leaving  two  or  three  men  from  each  village 
...  to  whom  I  will  order  letters  to  be  given,  sealed  with 
my  seal  .  .  .  with  every  demand  you  have  made  fully 
granted."  Thirty  secretaries  were  immediately  set  to  work 
to  draw  up  the  charters  of  manumission,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  people  departed  for  their  homes,  saying  :  "  It  is 
well  said  ;  we  do  not  wish  for  more."  Then  the  king's 
party  threw  off  the  mask  of  courtesy  and  good  humor. 
Wat  Tyler  was  foully  murdered.  Jack  Straw,  John  Ball, 
and  other  ringleaders  were  seized  and  executed  without 
form  of  trial.  Many  serfs  suffered  death  at  the  hands 
of  their  outraged  masters.  The  villeins  had  no  resource, 
since  the  landowners  were  all-influential  in  both  Houses  of 
Parliament.  The  charters  of  manumission  were  revoked 
on  the  ground  that  they  were  granted  by  "  compulsion,  du- 
ress, and  menace,"  and  an  act  of  pardon  was  passed,  exemp- 
ting from  blame  and  penalty  any  lords  and  gentlemen  who, 
in  the  emergency,  had  taken  the  law  into  their  own  hands 
and  inflicted  bodily  injury  on  their  bondmen. 


Rise  of  the  Commons. 


146 


So  were  the  people  outwitted  and  the  insurrection  crushed 
in  blood.  The  dominant  classes  were,  as  yet,  too  strong  to 
be  withstood.  It  is  quite  probable  that  fear  of  another 
rising  induced  many  a  lord  to  abate  his  claims  somewhat, 
but  he  would  still  enforce  what  he  could,  and  there  is 
abundant  evidence  that  certain  forms  of  serf-labor  persisted 
into  the  sixteenth  century.  The  eventual  emancipation  of 
the  serfs  was  due,  not  to  insurrection  or  legislation,  but  to 
the  gradual  operation  of  economic  forces. 


A  Lady  Hunting.   Fourteenth  Century. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
STRUGGLE  FOB  THE  CROWN. 


Illustrative  Readings. 
Henry  IV.;  Shakespeare. 
Henry  V.:  " 

Henry  VI  •  " 

Richard  III.; 
The   Last  of  the  Barons;  Lord 

Lytton. 
Warwick ;  C.  W.  Oman. 

Important  Dates. 
Reign  of  Henry  IV..  1399-1413. 
1401,  Statute  for  the  burning  of 

Heretics. 

1400,  Revolt  of  Wales ;  1403,  of 
the  Percies;  1405,  of  Archbishop 
Scrope. 


Reign  of  Henry  V.,  1413-1422. 

1414,  Lollard  conspiracy. 

1415,  Battle  of  Agincourt. 
1417,  Conquest  of  Normandy. 
1420,  Treaty  of  Troyes. 

Reign  of  Henry  VI.,  1422-1461. 
1429,  Siege  of  Orleans. 

1450,  Cade's  insurrection. 

1451,  Loss  of  Normandy  and  Gui- 
enne. 

1455,  Battle  of  St.  Albans. 

1461,  Battle  of  Towton. 

1471,  Battle  of  Barnet. 
Reign  of  Edward  V.,  1483. 
Reign  of  Richard  III.,  1483-1485. 

1485,  Battle  of  Bosworth  Field. 


Genealogical  table.    The  rival  dynasties. 

EDWARD  III. 


Clarence.                                               Gaunt.                           Yo 
1 

rk. 

1                                                            1 

By  Blanche  of  Lancaster,  By  Katherine  Swynford         Richard, 


Henry  IV., 
1399-1413. 

Henry  V., 
1413-1422. 

Henry  VI., 
1422-1471. 

Edward, 

slain  at 

Tewkesbury, 

1471. 


(illegitimate). 

John  Beaufort, 
Earl  of  Somerset. 

John  Beaufort, 
Duke  of  Somerset. 

Margaret  Beaufort, 
m.  Edmund  Tudor, 
Earl  of  Richmond. 

Henry  VII., 
1485-1409. 


Earl  of  Cambridge, 

m.Anne  Mortimer, 

beheaded   1415. 

Richard, 
Duke  of  York, 

slain  at 
Wakefleld,  1460. 


Edmund  Mortimer, 

Earl  of  March, 

died  1424. 


Anne  Mortimer. 


Edward  IV., 
1461-1483. 


Elizabeth.     Edward  V.,  Richard, 
m.  Henry  VII.       murdered, 
1483. 


George, 

Duke  of  Clarence, 
murdered  1478. 


Edward, 
Earl  of  Warwick, 
beheaded  1499. 

146 


Margaret, 

beheaded 

1541. 


Richard  III., 
1483-1485, 
slain  at 

Tewkesbury, 
1485. 

Edward, 
died 
1484. 


Struggle  for  the  Crown.  147 

THE  brilliant  promise  of  the  fourteenth  century  was 
destined  to  fail  of  fulfilment.  The  hopes  and  aspirations 
awakened  in  the  good  times  of  Edward  I.  were  undone  by 
the  great  calamities  which  fell  upon  the  land  in  the  reign 
of  his  successors.  War,  pestilence,  and  famine  wrought 
their  hideous  work,  sapping  the  energies  that  should  have 
gone  into  progress  and  expansion.  The  forward  movement 
toward  political,  religious,  and  industrial  freedom  proved 
premature  and  abortive.  In  the  succeeding  age  all  the 
achievements  of  the  fourteenth  century  were  rendered  void. 
Degeneration  and  decay  characterized  every  aspect  of  the 
national  life.  Politics  dwindled  into  mere  strife  of  faction, 
worship  passed  into  formalism,  the  literary  impulse  ebbed, 
and  social  relations  became  demoralized  even  to  brutality. 

THE  DYNASTIC  WARS. 

Henry  IV.,  like  Edward  III.,  came  to  the  throne  pledged 
to  respect  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  nation.  His  1399-1413.* 
usurpation  was  a  protest  against  the  misgovern  men  t  of 
Richard  II.,  and  success  was  achieved  by  the  support  of 
the  Lords  Appellant.  At  his  coronation,  he  confirmed  the 
ancient  laws  and  charters,  and  promised  to  govern  not  ac- 
cording to  his  own  arbitrary  pleasure,  but  by  advice  of.  the 
estates  assembled  in  Parliament,  and  loyally  did  the  king 
keep  his  word.  Constitutional  forms  were  scrupulously 
observed.  Taxes  and  legislation  were  determined  by  the 
will  of  the  people.  "Never  before  and  never  again  for  two 
hundred  years  were  the  Commons  so  strong  as  they  were 
under  Henry  IV."  But  the  first  Lancastrian  came  to  the 
throne  under  obligation  to  the  great  lords  and  prelates  who 
had  combined  to  depose  Richard.  Their  zeal  was  rewarded 
by  rich  booty  in  titles  and  estates.  Arundel  was  made  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  while  the  Percies  and  the  Nevilles 
were  given  ample  assurance  of  the  king's  favor.  The 
obligation  to  the  Church  was  redeemed  by  prompt  legisla- 


148 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Statute  against  ^ion  against  Lollardry.  All  previous  measures  had  been 
heretics.  1401.  ineffective.  The  doctrine  of  Wiclif  was  preached  through 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  and  the  reformed  faith 
was  being  accepted  not  only  by  peasants  and  artisans,  but 
by  learned  doctors  and  court  nobility.  The  clergy,  in 
alarm,  appealed  to  the  king  to  reinforce  ecclesiastical  sen- 
tence by  civil  penalty.  Henry 
had  inherited  nothing  of  his 
father's  quarrel  with  the  Church, 
and  looked  upon  the  Lollards  as 
dangerous  adherents  of  Richard. 
He  readily  lent  his  influence  to 
the  petition  which  resulted  in 
the  first  act  against  heretics  in- 
scribed among  English  statutes. 
The  confirmed  heretic  was  to  be 
burned  to  ashes  in  some  high 

place  before  the  eyes  of  the  peo- 
Effigy  of  Henry  IV.  and  his    * 

Queen,  Joan  of  Navarre.        pie,  in  order  to  strike  fear  to  the 

hearts  of  any  who  might  be  wavering  in  the  approved 
creed.  When  the  commons  petitioned  that  the  wealth  of 
the  clergy  should  be  confiscated  to  the  uses  of  the  State, 
the  king  sent  answer  that  "from  thenceforth  they  should 
not  presume  to  study  about  any  such  matters." 

Such  efforts  to  reinforce  his  position  could  not  guard  the 
new-made  king  against  rebellion.  Richard's  friends  soon 
gathered  courage  to  assert  his  right  to  the  throne.  The 
unhappy  prince  was  secretly  murdered  the  year  after  his 
deposition,  but  his  partisans  did  not  despair.  Rumors  that 
Richard  was  alive,  that  he  had  been  seen  in  Scotland,  that 
he  was  rallying  his  forces  at  Chester,  were  rife  in  the  land, 
and  stirred  the  latent  discontent  of  the  people.  Henry  was 
deep  in  debt  and  the  heavy  requisitions  he  made  upon  the 
nation's  wealth  soon  quenched  the  loyalty  called  forth  by 


1410. 


Revolts  in 
favor  of 
Richard. 


Struggle  for  the  Grown.  149 


his  regard  for  constitutional  forms.  Divers  plots  were  un- 
dertaken against  the  king's  life.  Wales  revolted  and  the 
Percies,  whose  allegiance  Henry  had  thought  secure, 
joined  the  Welsh  in  proclaiming  the  young  Earl  of  March 
rightful  heir  to  the  throne.  Northumberland  rose  at  their 
call,  and  the  insurrection  was  with  difficulty  suppressed. 
The  king  of  France,  whose  daughter  was  Richard's  queen, 
protested  against  the  usurpation  and  sent  aid  to  the  Welsh 
insurgents.  The  Gascon  cities  that  had  remained  loyal  to 
the  English  mistrusted  the  new  dynasty  and  lent  ear  to 
the  overtures  of  France.  One  by  one  all  obstacles  were  over- 
come, all  enemies  were  outwitted,  reconciled,  or  destroyed, 
and  the  people  won  over  to  the  House  of  Lancaster.  But 
the  task  wore  out  the  king's  life.  Haunted  by  secret  doubts 
as  to  his  right  to  the  crown,  weighed  down  by  a  disease 
which  his  superstitious  contemporaries  believed  to  be  the 
judgment  of  God,  he  grew  jealous  and  suspicious* fearing 
to  be  displaced  in  his  turn  by  the  popular  heir-apparent. 
"He  reigned  thirteen  years,"  says  Holinshed,  "  with  great 
perplexity  and  little  pleasure,"  but  he  left  a  well-founded 
inheritance  to  his  successors. 

Henry  V.  was  a  man  of  different  temper ;  able,  upright,   Henry  v 
and  generous,  a  brilliant  warrior  and  a  wise  ruler,  he  was   ^^-i422- 
the  best  product  of  his  age.    Prince  Hal,  the  gay  and  mis- 
chievous youth  whom  Shakespeare  depicts  as   FalstafFs 
boon  companion,  was  suddenly  sobered  by  the  responsi- 
bility of  kingship.     "  He  was  changed  into  another  man," 
says   Walsingham,   "studying  to   be   honest,  grave,  and 
modest."    Disturbing  questions  as  to  dynastic  right  died 

into  silence  before  the  popularity  of  the  brave,  self-confident  Tj»e  execution 

of  Cambridge 

young  king.     The  Earl  of  March  was  received  into  royal   (141.5)  °c:  tl 

casioned  the 

favor,  and  the  conspiracy  undertaken  in  his  name  by  the  blood-feud  be- 
tween the 
Earl  of  Cambridge  was  readily  brought  to  naught.     The  houses  of  IAU- 

king's  championship  of  orthodoxy  doubtless  added- greatly   York. 


150  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

to  the  security  of  his  administration.      The  statute  against 

heretics  was  reinforced  in  1414,  and"  a  formidable  Lollard 

Obscure  Loi-      rising  under  Sir  John  Oldcastle  was  quashed  by  Henry's 

ifnde"jac1t        prompt  interference.    The  leaders  were  put  to  death,  and 

I43hrp  the  movement  so  discredited,   that  Lollardry  never  again 

figured  as  a  menace  to  the  established  order.     Religious 

discontent  smoldered  in  secret  until  the  Reformation. 

The  renewal  of  the  French  wars  was  another  popular 
Wars/6  measure.     Henry's  claim  to  the  French  throne  was  slighter 

than  that  of  Edward  III.  and  had  even  less  chance  of  suc- 
cess ;  but  its  assertion  was  eagerly  applauded  by  English- 
men of  the  day.  The  war  with  France  had  become  an 

ancestral  feud  that  must  be  pros- 
ecuted without  regard  to  conse- 
quences. The  barons  welcomed 
the  opportunity  to  win  fame  and 
-v  plunder,  while  the  clergy  were 
glad  to  divert  attention  from  a 
second  proposal  to  confiscate 
ecclesiastical  revenues,  by  voting 
taxes  for  the  French  campaigns. 

Military  Costume  of  the  Reign  The    war,   so    cordially    under- 
taken, was  carried  to  a  brilliant 

conclusion.  The  battle  of  Agincourt  was  a  repetition  of 
Cr6cy.  Once  again  English  yeomen  overthrew  French 
knights  with  well-directed  shots  from  skilful  long-bows, 
and  once  again  the  English  army,  invincible  in  battle,  was 
destroyed  by  famine  and  disease.  Good  fortune,  rather  than 
valor,  gave  Henry  the  ultimate  victory.  France  was  de- 
moralized by  civil  strife.  The  king,  Charles  VI.,  was  imbe- 
cile, and  the  kingdom  was  divided  between  hostile  factions. 
The  Burgundians  held  the  north  and  west,  while  the  parti- 
sans of  the  Dauphin  were  in  control  south  of  the  Loire. 
The  country  lay  waste  and  desolate  ;  the  cities  were  reduced 


Struggle  for  the  Crown. 


151 


to  anarchic  misrule.  A  land  so  distraught  was  not  difficult 
to  conquer.  The  assassination  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy 
ruined  the  cause  of  the  Dauphin.  A  treaty  of  peace  was 
concluded,  the  hand  of  the  Princess  Catherine  being  given 
in  pledge  of  fulfilment.  The  rights  of  the  Dauphin  were 
set  aside,  and  it  was  agreed  that  Henry  was  to  succeed  to 
the  throne  on  the  death  of  Charles  VI.  In  1421  Henry 
returned  to  England,  accom- 
panied by  his  fair  French  bride. 
He  was  joyfully  greeted  by  a  peo- 
ple intoxicated  with  triumph, 
but  a  sinister  fate  awaited  the 
warrior  king.  Returning  to 
France  to  pursue  the  conquest  of 
the  south,  "  he  fell  sick  of  the 
great  heat,"  and  died  only  two 
months  before  the  mad  moi 
whom  he  had  expected  to  suc- 
ceed. Henry  V.  had  dreamed  of  reducing  France,  not 
merely  to  submission,  but  to  order  and  renewed  prosperity 
—of  carrying  the  terror  of  the  English  name  to  the  far  east 
— of  conquering  the  Turks  and  restoring  the  Holy  Sepul- 
cher  to  Christian  keeping  ;  but  all  these  great  projects  came 
to  nothing,  for  the  king  was  cut  off  in  the  first  flush  of 
success  before  his  initial  conquests  could  be  secured. 

England  was  undone  by  his  death.  The  Prince  of  Wales 
was  but  nine  months  old,  and  the  realm  was  exposed  to  all 
the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  a  long  minority.  Parliament 
vested  sovereign  authority  in  a  council  of  regency,  ap- 
pointing the  late  king's  brothers,  the  Dukes  of  Bedford  and 
Gloucester,  to  the  government  of  France  and  England 
respectively.  Gloucester  was  a  vain,  ambitious  prince  who 
did  not  hesitate  to  sacrifice  the  peace  of  the  country  to  his 
own  advancement.  He  was  soon  engaged  in  a  fierce  quar- 


Royal,  15,  D.  3. 


Henry  VI. 
1422-1471. 


152  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

rel  with  Bishop  Beaufort,  his  rival  in  the  government. 
The  feud,  ceasing  only  with  the  death  of  the  principals, 
continued  through  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  this  un- 
happy reign,  and  involved  the  council,  the  court,  and 
ultimately  the  dynasty  in  its  fatal  toils. 

In  the  meantime,  Bedford  was  spending  his  splendid 
energy  and  sorely  needed  wisdom  in  the  vain  endeavor  to 
retain  the  French  conquests.  The  fortunes  of  France  had 
touched  lowest  ebb  in  the  Treaty  of  Troyes.  With  the  death 
French  victo-  °f  the  mad  king,  courage  revived,  and  loyal  Frenchmen 
Joan  of  Arc.  turned  to  the  Dauphin  as  the  hope  of  the  nation.  Awak- 
ened patriotism  found  expression  in  the  self-forgetting 
zeal  of  Joan  of  Arc,  the  marvelous  peasant  girl  of  Domremi, 
who  inspired  the  dejected  forces  of  the  Dauphin  with  such 
enthusiasm  as  enabled  them  once  more  to  win  victories 
from  the  English.  A  besieging  force  was  driven  back  from 
Orleans,  the  strong  city  of  the  loyal  south  ;  the  Dauphin 
was  carried  to  Rheims,  and  there  triumphantly  crowned  in 
the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country,  while  one  after  another 
the  fortified  cities  were  recovered  from  the  English  garrisons. 
Not  even  the  capture  and  barbarous  execution  of  the  Maid 
of  Orleans  could  daunt  the  renewed  courage  of  the  French, 
but  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford  removed  the  single 
element  of  strength  in  the  English  resistance.  In  1436 
Paris  was  lost  and  England's  possessions  rapidly  narrowed 
down  to  the  limits  attained  by  Henry  II. 

At  home,  meanwhile,  matters  were  going  badly.  The 
little  king,  a  delicate  but  precocious  child,  was  being  care- 
fully educated,  and  he  showed  himself  an  apt  and  submis- 
sive pupil.  In  happier  times  he  might  have  become  a  good, 
even  a  great  sovereign  ;  but  the  storm  and  stress  of  civil 
strife  forced  upon  him  responsibilities  far  beyond  his 
strength.  He  was  crowned  king  of  England  when  only 
seven  years  of  age,  and  king  of  France  at  ten.  Again  and 


Struggle,  for  the  Crown. 


153 


again,  while  still  a  mere  child,  he  was  called  upon  to  medi- 
ate between  the  great  barons  of  the  council.  The  death  of 
Bedford  bereft  him  of  his  only  wise  and  disinterested  min- 
ister. The  fragile  body  and  overwrought  brain  of  the  boy 
king  broke  under  the  strain.  He  was  still  a  young  man 
when  the  curse  of  his  house  fell  upon  him  and  he  became  a 
helpless  imbecile.  The  condition  of  England  was  pitiable. 
The  people  groaned  under  the  burden  of  taxes  imposed  for 
the  prosecution  of  the  French  war.  The  heavy  drafts 
required  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  the  depleted  army,  coupled 
with  frequent  recurrences  of  the  plague,  had  sensibly  re- 
duced the  population.  The  strength  of  the  nation  was 
nearly  exhausted,  and  yet  Par- 
liament was  unwilling  to  treat 
for  peace.  Race  pride  revolted 
against  a  humiliating  conclusion 
to  the  war  so  brilliantly  inaug- 
urated. The  counselors  of  the 
king,  however,  seeing  that  fail- 
ure was  inevitable,  negotiated  a 
truce.  A  marriage  was  arranged 
between  the  young  king  and  John  Talbot>  ^  of  Shrews. 


Margaret  of  Anjou,   Maine  and      bury,  in  the  Habit  of  the  Or- 


der of  the  Garter,  presenting 
Anjou  being  ceded  as  the  price     tnd'hV^een,    Margaret! 

From  an  illustration  in  the 
volume  so  presented,  marked 
Royal,  15,  E.  6. 


of  peace.  Normandy  was  lost  in 
1450,  and  the  coast  cities,  Bor- 
deaux and  Bayonne,  in  1451.  The  remnant  of  Guienne  , 

Loss  of  French 
thus  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  French  king,  and  Calais   territories. 

alone  remained  to  England. 

With  the  close  of  the  war,  a  crowd  of  disappointed  knights 
and  ragged  soldiers  returned  from  over-seas,  seeking  to  bet- 
ter their  desperate  fortunes.  They  found  the  country  well- 
nigh  ruined,  the  king  impotent,  the  queen  generally  hated 
because  of  the  humiliating  marriage  treaty,  and  the  princes 


154  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

of  the  blood-royal  engaged  in  a  life  and  death  struggle  for 
Civil  dis-  control  of  the  government.    Edmund    Beaufort,  Duke   of 

Somerset,  head  of  the  illegitimate  branch  of  the  Lancas- 
trian House,  had  the  confidence  of  the  court  and  the  queen  ; 
but  he  was  unpopular  with  the  people,  and  was  charged 
with  every  disaster  at  home  and  abroad.  His  rival,  Richard 
of  York,  had,  on  the  contrary,  proved  himself  an  able  ruler, 
both  in  France  and  in  Ireland.  He  was  not  only  heir- 
apparent  to  the  childless  king,  but,  being  descended  through 
his  mother,  Anne  Mortimer,  from  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clar- 
ence, elder  brother  to  John  of 
Gaunt,  he  might  advance  a  better 
claim  to  the  throne  than  the  reign- 
ing dynasty.  Distrusted  by  the 
queen's  party  and  driven  from 
court,  his  name  was  caught  up  by 
the  malcontents  as  the  guarantee 

of  efficient   government.     Jack 
Civil  Costume  of  the  Reign 

of  Henry  VI.  Cade,  who   incited   the   fruitless 

peasant  insurrection  in  1451,  assumed  the  name  of  Mortimer. 
The  "Complaint  of  the  Commons  of  Kent"  protested 
against  the  misgovernment  of  unworthy  favorites,  and  de- 
manded that  the  king  recall  to  court  "that  high  and 
mighty  prince,  the  Duke  of  York."  The  Kentish  rising,  far 
from  inducing  the  king  to  summon  York  to  his  council, 
only  heightened  the  antagonism  between  that  great  lord 
and  the  court  party. 

In  1453,  Henry  fell  into  a  state  of  imbecility  which  en- 
dured, with  brief  intervals  of  sanity,  through  the  remaining 
eighteen  years  of  his  life.  The  birth  of  Prince  Edward  in 
the  same  year  gave  at  last  an  heir  to  the  House  of  Lan- 
caster. Relying  on  the  support  of  powerful  barons, 
notably  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  York  laid  claim  to  the 
protectorate,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  maintain  his  right  by 


Struggle  for  the  Ci-own.  155 

force.  Somerset  was  slain  at  St.  Albans,  and  Queen  1445 
Margaret  was  left  alone  to  defend  the  interests  of  her 
feeble  husband  and  infant  son.  The  queen  was  justly 
unpopular,  since  there  was  reason  to  believe  that  she  was 
soliciting  the  aid  of  France  and  Scotland  against  her  Eng- 
lish foes.  Nevertheless  she  could  count  on  the  loyalty  of 
the  north  and  west.  The  Yorkist  cause,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  maintained  in  London  and  the  rich  and  populous 
southeastern  counties  whose  commercial  and  industrial  in- 
terests were  dependent  on  efficient  government.  Richard  of 
York,  as  well  as  his  successors,  courted  the  alliance  of  the 
people.  In  1459,  the  quarrel  so  long  smoldering  broke 
into  flame.  Parliament,  acting  under  the  influence  of  the 
queen,  attainted  York  and  his  principal  supporters.  They 
armed  in  self-defense  and  the  land  was  given  over  to  civil 

war.    Victory  was  at  first  with  the  Duke  of  York.      At  the 

Wars  of  the 

battle  of  Northampton,  Henry  VI.  was  taken  prisoner  and   Roses. 

Lancastrians 

York  laid  claim  to  the  crown.    A  compromise  was  effected   wore  the  red 
by  the  advocates  of  peace  ;  Richard  was  to  succeed  Henry  the  white. 
VI.,  the  claim  of  Prince  Edward  being  set  aside.     Queen 
Margaret,  however,  rejected  the  arrangement  and  fought 
like  a  lioness  for  the  rights  of  her  son.     Richard  fell  at 
"Wakefield,  but  his  heir,  young  Edward  of  York,  proved  as 
strong  a  leader.     Getting  possession  of  London,  he  was 
proclaimed  king  by  the  citizens  and  crowned,  before  the 

Coronation  of 

sanction  of  Parliament  was  obtained,  by  a  group  of  parti-  Edward  iv. 
san  lords.    The  bloody  battle  of  Towton  Field  wrecked  the 
hopes  of  the  Lancastrians.      The  leading  men  of  the  party 
were  slain,  and  the  fierce  queen  was  forced  to  flee  to  Scot- 
land, carrying  with  her  the  husband  and  son  for  whom  she 
waged  this  desperate  contest.    Thus  was  the  work  of  1399 
undone,  and  the  act  of  deposition  reversed.    The  coronation 
of  Edward  IV.  was  a  reassertion  of  hereditary  right. 
The  cause  of  the  White  Rose  had  been  staunchlv  main- 


156  The  Oroivth  of  the  English  Nation. 

Warwick.  tained  by  Richard  Neville,  Earl  of  Warwick,  near  kinsman 

to  the  house  of  York,  and  the  most  powerful  lord  in 
England.  He  held  great  estates  in  the  midland  counties 
and  could  gather  an  army  of  trusty  vassals  under  his  ban- 
ner, the  ragged  staff.  He  was  further  so  connected  by 
blood  and  marriage  with  other  great  families  that  he  could 
count  on  the  support  of  the  major  part  of  the  English 
nobility.  It  was  said  that  "  half  England  would  rise  at  his 
word."  An  able  politician,  a  man  of  genial  manners  and 
wide  sympathies,  he  won  the  steadfast  confidence  of  the 
people.  "  He  ever  had  the  good  voice  of  the  people,"  says 
the  chronicler,  "  because  he  gave  them  fair  words,  showing 
himself  easy  and  familiar."  He,  far  more  than  the  Duke  of 
York,  fought  in  the  interest  of  good  government,  and  the 
victory  of  the  White  Rose  was  due  in  great  part  to  his 
valiant  service.  After  the  crown  was  won  and  Edward 
IV.  established  at  Westminster,  Warwick  was  sent  to  guard 
the  north  country  against  the  raids  undertaken  by  Marga- 
ret and  the  Scots.  It  was  no  easy  task  ;  the  indomitable 
queen  stirred  the  discontented  of  Northumberland  to  re- 
volt, and  rising  after  rising  was  attempted,  tasking  the 
skill  of  Warwick  to  the  utmost. 

Meanwhile  King  Edward  at  London  was  pursuing  his 
own  pleasure  as  gayly  as  if  his  tenure  of  the  throne  was 
indefeasible.  In  1464  he  married  Lady  Grey,  rejecting  the 
high-born  brides  proposed  by  Warwick,  and  proceeded  to 
bestow  titles  and  offices  upon  her  numerous  relatives,  the 
Woodvilles,  with  slight  regard  to  the  advice  of  his  former 
councilors.  The  people  murmured  that  Lancastrian  feeble- 
ness "  was  no  worse  than  the  reckless  misrule  of  a  York." 
The  rebellious  commons  of  Yorkshire,  led  by  Robin  of 
Redesdale,  protested  against  burdensome  taxation,  the 
alienation  of  the  royal  estates  to  upstart  favorites,  and  the 
exclusion  from  the  king's  council  of  the  princes  of  the 


Struggle  for  the  Crown. 


157 


1470' 


blood.    Warwick  began  to  repent  him  of  his  work  and  to 

plot  resistance.     It  required  but  the  weight  of  his.  influence 

on  the  Lancastrian  side  to  turn  the  tables.     A  sharp  rever- 

sal of  fortune  drove  the  over-confident  Edward  beyond  seas 

and  restored  Henry  VI.  to  the  throne.    For  five  months 

the  frail  old  man  held  the  scepter  in  his  feeble  grasp.     He 

was  but  a  shadow  king,  the  real  sovereign  was  the  great 

Earl  of  Warwick.      In  the 

spring  of  1471,  Edward  re- 

turned to  England,  protest- 

ing that  he  had  come  in  all 

loyalty  to  King  Henry,  to 

recover     but    his    ancestral 

estates.       Encountering   no 

resistance    from    the     apa- 

thetic   people,   he  gathered 

courage  and  reclaimed  the 

throne.   In  the  struggle  that 

ensued,  Warwick  was  slain, 

together    with    Prince    Ed- 

ward, the  hope  of  the  Lan- 

castrians;  Margaret  was 

taken  prisoner,  and  the  old 

king,      consigned     to     the 

Tower,  died  on  the  night  of 

Edward's    triumphant     re- 

turn to  London.    The  House  of  Lancaster  fell,  overborne  by 

force.      Twenty  years  of  civil  strife  had  resulted  in  the   the  Lancas- 

triumph  of  a  rival  dynasty.    It  was  not  a  constitutional  net.   1471. 

struggle  like  that  led  by  Simon  de  Montfort,  by  Thomas  of 

Lancaster,  by  the  Lords  Appellant.    Henry  IV.  and  his 

successors  had  been  most  scrupulously  observant  of  every 

constitutional  form.    They  had  neither  attempted  arbitrary 

rule  nor  sought  to  enrich  themselves  and  their  favorites  at 


Female  Costume  of  the  Reign  of 
Edward  IV. 


158 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Tyranny  of 
Edward  IV. 


Edward  V. 
1483. 


the  expense  of  the  commonweal.  Their  failure  was  in 
"want  of  governance. "  The  dynasty  had  failed  to  strike 
deep  root  in  the  loyalty  of  the  nation,  because  it  had  fur- 
nished no  able  administrator.  England  needed  above  all 
things  a  strong  and  efficient  government  which  should  pro- 
tect the  weak  and  restore  order  to  the  disorganized  State. 
The  House  of  York  did  not  meet  this  need.  The  gov- 
ernment of  Edward  IV.  was  arbitrary  rather  than  strong. 
Since  John,  no  king  had  sat  on  the  English  throne 
so  abandoned  to  vicious  pleasure,  so  lacking  in  the 
sense  of  responsibility  for  his  people.  Edward  had  "a 
conspicuous  talent  for  extortion."  Money  was  wrung 
from  his  helpless  subjects  by  new 
and  ingenious  devices.  Heavy  fines 
were  imposed  for  fictitious  offenses 
and  "benevolences"  were  demanded 
on  such  terms  as  made  this  form  of 
contribution  to  the  king's  neces- 
sities even  more  vexatious  than  the 
forced  loans  of  Richard  II.  Xo 
class  escaped  the  royal  exactions. 
"The  rich,"  says  a  contemporary, 
"were  hanged  by  the  purse  and  the  poor  by  the  neck." 
Parliament  was  summoned  at  rare  intervals,  and  its  prin- 
cipal business  was  the  voting  of  forfeitures  and  bills  of 
attainder  against  the  Lancastrian  lords.  No  reform  legis- 
lation was  attempted. 

Edward's  sudden  death  left  the  succession  ill-defended. 
His  son,  Prince  Edward,  was  but  thirteen  years  of  age.  The 
young  king's  uncle,  Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  deformed 
of  body,  brilliant  of  intellect,  and  of  all  the  House  of  York 
most  cruel  and  selfish,  the  man  to  whom  tradition  has 
attributed  the  worst  crimes  of  this  brutal  age,  had  enjoyed 
the  full  trust  of  the  late  king.  No  sooner  was  Edward  dead 


Civil  Costume  of  the  Reign 
of  Edward  IV. 


Struggle  for  the  Crown.  159 

than  Richard  began  his  bloody  march  toward  the  throne. 
The  Woodvilles  were  driven  from  court,  some  into  exile, 
some  to  the  block,  and  Gloucester  was  elected  protector  of 
the  realm.  The  wily  duke  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
his  young  nephew ;  but  before  Edward  could  be  crowned, 
his  royal  right  was  set  aside  and  Richard  was  invited  by  a 
partisan  gathering  of  lords  and  clergy,  acting  in  the  name 
of  the  three  estates,  to  assume  the  crown.  The  boy  king 
and  his  little  brother  were  murdered  in  the  Tower. 

Richard  III.  was  a  man  of  sinister  genius — the  worst  prod-  Richard  in. 
uct  of  his  age.    The  single  Parlia- 


ment of  his  reign  passed  a  series  of 

remedial    statutes,    and   these   are 

sometimes  cited  as  evidence  that 

the  last  York  was  maligned  by  his 

successors — that  the  real  man  might 

have    become    a   great   sovereign. 

Since,  however,  the  king  did  not 

hesitate  to  set  at  naught  the  only 

statute  of  importance— that  declar- 

ing    benevolences   illegal — he    can        mum.  Royal  MS. 

hardly  be  regarded  as  the  author  of  the  reform  movement. 

The  two  years  of  his  reign  were  spent  in  the  vain  endeavor 

to  defeat  the  rival  claimant  to  the  succession,  Henry  Tudor, 

Overthrow  of 

Duke  of  Richmond,  the  last  surviving  heir  of  the  House  of  the  Yorkists 

at  Bosworth 

Lancaster.    At  the  decisive  battle  of  Bosworth  Field,  Rich-  Field,   i486. 

ard  was  slain,  and  Henry  was  proclaimed  king. 

THE  STATE  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

The  misery  of  the  people  during  these  years  of  civil  strife 
was  such  as  England  had  not  known  since  the  evil  days  of 

Stephen.    The  land  was  laid  waste  by  rival  armies  in  pur- 
Devastation 

suit  of  plunder  or  revenge.    Crops   were   destroyed  and   caused  by 

the  wars. 

cattle  driven  off,  the  very  huts  of  the  peasants  were  torn 

down,  and  their  owners  left  to  naked  beggary.    Villages 


160  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

and  towns  were  sacked  and  burned  to  the  ground,  and  the 
countryside  reduced  to  smoking  ruins.  More  men  died 
of  want  than  were  slain  in  battle.  Famine  and  pestilence, 
the  attendants  of  war,  added  their  horror  to  the  general 
distress.  The  fields  lay  untilled  in  many  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. The  price  of  wheat  fluctuated  with  every  harvest,  but 
again  and  again  during  the  century,  it  rose  to  famine  rates. 
Pestilence  followed  close  upon  famine.  The  chroniclers 
record  some  twenty  outbreaks  of  "  the  Death,"  with  hardly 
a  space  of  five  years  free.  Not  only  was  the  growth  of  pop- 
ulation checked,  but  the  number  of  souls  actually  fell  below 
what  it  was  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Suffering  and  the 
failure  of  accustomed  restraints  demoralized  the  nation. 
Loyalty,  honor,  all  sense  of  obligation,  weakened  in  this 
age  of  social  disintegration.  Treachery,  breach  of  vows, 
barbarous  cruelty,  characterized  the  party  leaders.  Their 
followers,  not  slow  to  imitate  the  evil  example,  robbed  and 
murdered  in  their  furn. 

The  Church  had  well-nigh  lost  its  influence  for  good. 
Neville,  Arch-  Dogma  once  rendered  secure  by  the  suppression  of  the  Lol- 
York,  sur-  lards,  little  concern  was  felt  for  the  well-being  of  the  people. 

rendered  Lon- 
don t°  ?infh     The  superior  clergy,  younger  sons  of  baronial  families,  took 

price  of  safety.   an  active  part  in  the  civil  strife,  and  proved  themselves  a 

1471. 

shade  more  faithless  than  their  non-tonsured  allies. 

The  baronage  was  decimated  in  the  course  of  the  dynastic 
struggle.*  Many  old  houses  were  extinguished,  the  men  of 
the  family  having  fallen  in  battle.  Many  more  were 
impoverished.  The  wasteful  expenses  entailed  in  120  years 
of  public  and  private  war,  and  the  cost  of  maintaining  the 
splendid  establishments  required  by  the  fashion  of  the 
times,  were  a  heavy  charge,  while  the  returns  from  landed 

*  The  loss  of  life  was  heaviest  among  the  nobility.  At  the  battle  of 
Northampton,  Warwick  gave  orders  that  none  should  slay  the  com- 
mons, but  only  the  lords,  with  whom  lay  the  responsibility  for  the  war. 
But  twenty-nine  barons  were  summoned  to  the  first  Parliament  of 
Henry  VII. 


Struggle  for  the  Grown.  161 


property  were  diminishing.    Wealth  and  influence  were 
centered  in  a  few  great  families.    There  were  half  a  dozen 
peers  whose  power  rivaled  that  of  royalty  itself.    The  Earl 
of  Warwick  boasted  so  large  a  following  that  six  oxen  were 
daily  slaughtered  to  provide  his  breakfast  table.     The  Duke 
of  Buckingham's    rental   was   estimated    at    £180,000    in 
money  of  to-day,  while  in  his  great  hall  of  Thornbury  200 
guests  partook  of  his  bounty.    The  Earl  of  Berkeley  was 
accompanied  on  his  journeys  by  a  retinue  of  150  retainers, 
dressed  in  his  livery.    A  baron's  strength  was  measured  by 
the  number  of  followers  he  could  maintain.     Such  attend-   Liverie,i  re_ 
ants  were  fed  and  clothed,  armed  and  mounted  by  their  Jf^j "|jy  „ 
lord,  and  were  entitled  to  a  share  in  the  booty  of  war.    In   ^gTnaUy  the? 
return  for  such  "  livery,"  the  man  bound  himself  to  espouse  cio°hingand 
his  lord's  quarrels,  to  answer  his  summons,  and  follow  him   provisions, 
to  battle  at  home  or  abroad.    It  was  just  such  a  relation  of 
mutual  service  and  protection  as  existed  between  the  Saxon 
earl  and  his  thane.    There  was,  in  fact,  in  the  disorgan- 
ized state  of  society,  a  reversion  to  feudalism.    Backed  by 
their  armed  retainers, 
powerful  nobles  made 
war  upon  each  other, 
in  pursuit  of  personal 
ends.      Fierce     feuds 
and  private  wars,  such 

as  disgraced  the  reign 

Preparing  for  a  Joust, 
of  Stephen,  were  of  fre- 
quent occurrence.    There  was  no  authority  strong  enough 
to  cope  with  the  turbulent  gentry.   The  kings  were  but  their 
creatures  and  the  courts  of  justice  could  not  withstand 
their  influence.    A  powerful  nobleman  had  only  to  appear 
before  the  justice  with  several  thousand  henchmen  at  his 
back  to  secure  the  reversal  of  a  hostile  sentence.     The 
Parliamentary  records  of  the  period  abound  in  complaints 


162 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Maintenance 
•was  the  sup 
port  given  by 
lord  to  client, 
whether  in  a 
private  quar- 
rel or  in  the 
courts  of  Jus- 
tice. 


Anarchy. 


Industrial 
progress. 


of  "the  outrageous  oppressions  and  maintenances  made 
to  the  damage  of  the  people  in  divers  parts  of  the  realm." 
From  Edward  III.  to  Henry  VII.  this  was  a  growing  evil. 
No  less  than  twelve  statutes  were  enacted  against  the 
giving  of  liveries  and  the  maintaining  of  false  quarrels  ; 
but  legislation  could  effect  nothing  when  there  was  no 
strong  central  authority  to  put  the  law  into  execution.  In 
the  ignoble  strife  for  possession  of  the»crown,  the  royal 
authority  was  discredited.  The  institutions  of  government, 
local  as  well  as  central,  were  demoralized,  and  the  kingdom 
lapsed  into  anarchy.  Parliament,  formerly  the  staunch 
defender  of  the  people's  liberties,  had  degenerated  into 
the  servile  tool  of  dynastic  faction.  By  neglecting  to  sum- 
mon the  hostile  lords  and  by  skilfully  manipulating  county 
elections,  the  party  in  power  could  at  any  time  convene  an 
assembly  that  would  ratify  its  measures  of  attainder  and 
restitution. 

Bad  as  were  the  political  and  social  conditions  of  the  age, 
there  was  still  room  for  considerable  industrial  progress. 
The  citizens  of  the  towns  and  the  lesser  folk  of  the  coun- 
try had  little  to  do  with  the  civil  wars.  Yeomen  and 
all  below  the  rank  of  squire  were  forbidden  by  law  to  don  a 
livery  or  to  follow  a  lord  to  battle,  while  participation 
in  the  county  elections  was  limited  to  persons  possessed 
of  land  worth  forty  shillings  a  year.*  The  process  of  com- 
muting personal  for  money  service  was  virtually  accom- 
plished in  the  course  of  the  fifteenth  century  and  the 
former  serfs  became  copyhold  tenants.  The  demesne 
lands  were  rented  on  easy  terms  by  their  necessitous 
owners  to  thrifty  yeomen  who  knew  how  to  lay  up  money 
in  spite  of  the  turbulent  times.  Such  a  man  is  described  in 


•Statute  of  1430,  enacted  in  consequence  of  tumults  made  in  1  he  county 
courts  "  by  great  attendance  of  people  of  small  substance  and  no  value, 
whereof  every  one  of  them  pretended  a  voice  equivalent,  as  to  such 
elections,  with  the  most  worthy  knights  and  squires  resident." 


Struggle  for  the  Croivn.  163 

Latimer's  sermon  before  Edward  VI.  "  My  father  was  a 
yeoman  and  had  no  lands  of  his  own,  only  he  had  a  farm  of 
three  or  four  hundred  pounds  (rent)  by  year  at  the  utter- 
most, and  hereupon  he  tilled  so  much  as  kept  half  a  dozen 
men.  He  had  walk  for  a  hundred  sheep,  and  my  mother 
milked  thirty  kine.  .  .  .  He  kept  me  to  school,  or  else  I 
had  not  been  able  to  preach  before  the  king's  majesty 
now.  He  married  my  sisters  with  five  pounds  apiece.  .  . 
He  kept  hospitality  for  his  poor  neighbors  and  some  alms 
he  gave  to  the  poor,  and  all  this  he  did  of  the  same  farm." 
Such  a  man,  too,  was  Clement  Paston,  the  ancestor  of  the 
Fastens  of  Norfolk,  whose  son  became  a  prominent  judge 
and  whose  grandson  married  the  heiress  of  a  good  county 
family. 

The  fifteenth  century  has  been  called  "  the  golden  age  of  Mjsery0f 
English  labor,"  and  it  is  true  that  the  period  is  marked  by 
a  steady  rise  of  wages ;  but 
prices  rose  no  less  steadily 
and  the  irregularity  of  em- 
ployment (all  labor  was  sus- 
pended on  the  frequent 
Church  holidays)  reduced 
the  earning  power  of  the 
workman  to  the  mere  cost 
of  subsistence.  The  oft- 

£>n«ir>tprl    sfntiitaa  nf  labor-are        Lord  Rivers  and  Caxton,  his 

Printer,  presenting  a  Book 
empowered  justices  of  the  to  Edward  I v. 

peace  to  fix  the  rate  of  wages  and  forbade  the  laborers 
to  move  about  in  search  of  better  pay.  Lamenting  the 
degraded  lot  of  the  farm  servants,  Sir  Thomas  More  says  : 
"The  state  and  condition  of  the  laboring  beasts  may 
seem  much  better  and  wealthier ;  for  they  be  not  put  to 
so  continual  labor,  nor  their  living  is  not  much  worse, 
yea  to  them  much  pleasanter,  taking  no  thought  in  the 


164  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

mean  season  for  the  time  to  come.  But  these  seely  poor 
wretches  be  presently  tormented  with  barren  and  unfruit- 
ful labor,  and  the  remembrance  of  their  poor,  indigent,  and 
beggarly  old  age  killeth  them  up.  For  their  daily  wages  is 
so  little  that  it  will  not  suffice  for  the  same  day,  much  less 
it  yieldeth  any  surplus  that  may  daily  be  laid  up  for  the  re- 
lief of  old  age."  The  food  and  shelter  that  might  be 
procured  with  such  meager  earnings  was  so  poor  and 
unwholesome  that  the  laboring  classes  fell  an  easy  prey 
to  the  pestilence.  Leprosy,  typhoid,  and  other  filth  dis- 
eases ran  riot. 

The  citizens  of  the  towns  were  far  more  prosperous.    It 
Prosperity  of 
the  towns.          was  the  policy  of  the  burgesses  to  shirk  all  responsibility 

for  the  dynastic  strife.  Neither  White  Rose  nor  Ked  was 
worth  the  cost  of  a  siege  and  the  city  gates  flew  open  to  the 
first  comer.  The  wars,  foreign  and  domestic,  were  a  seri- 
ous interference  to  commerce.  Pirates  infested  the  seas  and 
the  ports  were  not  infrequently  burned  by  French  fleets 
that  scoured  the  coasts.  The  victory  of  York,  however,  fur- 
nished opportunity  for  the  revival  of  industrial  prosperity. 
Edward  IV.,  who  earned  the  title  of  "Merchant  Prince" 
by  his  successful  trade  speculations,  did  much  to  restore 
security  to  commerce.  A  typical  burgher  of  the  day  was 
Sir  Richard  Whittington,  a  prosperous  member  of  the  wor- 
shipful Mercers  Company,  who  built  hospitals  and  colleges, 
loaned  money  to  the  king,  and  four  times  fulfilled  the 
prophecy  rung  in  his  boyish  ears  by  London's  bells — 
"Turn  again,  Whittington,  Lord  Mayor  of  London." 

The  fifteenth  century  produced  no  statesmen  and  no 
poets.  It  was  a  brutal  age,  in  which  the  ideas  that  had  re- 
deemed medieval  society — patriotism,  religion,  chivalry — 
languished,  overborne  by  selfish  materialism.  The  liter- 
ary impulse  of  the  fourteenth  century  was  prematurely 
checked.  The  ill-fated  Henry  VI.  founded  the  grammar 


Struggle  for  the  Crown. 


165 


school  of  Eton  and  built  King's  College  Chapel,  Caxton 
set  up  his  printing  press  at  Westminster  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  IV.,  but  with  such  rare  exceptions,  the  age  seemed 
intellectually  dead.  There  was  a  dearth  of  poetry  and 
romance.  Even  the  chroniclers  give  evidence  of  the  gen- 
eral mental  apathy.  Their  meager  records  rival  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  in  dullness.  Yet  though  the  times  admitted  of  no 
individual  eminence  in  culture  or  in  art,  the  people  at 
large  had  their  heart-stirring  ballads,  their  quaint  religious 
dramas,  played  in  the  city  streets  on  holy  days,  and  faith- 
ful craftsmen  wrought  new  beauty  into  church  and  gild- 
hall  and  market-cross. 


Mummers.    Fourteenth  Century. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE  TCDOBS  AND  THE  REFORMATION. 


Character  of 
the  sixteenth 
century. 


Illustrative  Readings. 

Henry  VIII.;   Shakespeare. 
Wolsey;  Creighton. 
Queen  Mary;  Tennyson. 
Kenilworth;  Scott. 
Elizabeth  ;  Beesley. 
Westward  Ho !  Kingsley. 

Important  Dates. 

Reign  of  Henry  VII.,  1485-1509. 

1503,  Alliance  with  Scotland. 
Reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  1509-1547. 

1512-1514,  War  with  France. 

1529,  Fall  of  Wolsey. 

1529,  Reformation  Parliament. 

1533,  Marriage  of  Anne  Boleyn. 


1534,  Separation  from  Rome. 

1539,  The  Six  Articles. 
Reign  of  Edward  VI.,  1547-1553. 

1547-1548,  Scotch  war. 
Reign  of  Mary,  1553-1558. 

1554,  Marriage  with  Philip. 

1555,  Beginning  of  persecution. 

1558,  Loss  of  Calais. 
Reign  of  Elizabeth,  1558-1603. 

1559,  Acts  of  Supremacy  and  Uni- 
formity. 

1568,  Overthrow  of  Mary. 

1570,  Papal  Bull  against  Elizabeth. 

1580,  Arrival  of  Jesuits. 

1587,  Execution  of  Mary. 

1588,  Defeat  of  Armada. 


Genealogical  Table.    The  Tudor  dynasty. 

HENRY  VII.,  1485-1509, 
m.  Elizabeth,  of  York. 

Arthur,  Prince  of  Wales, 

m.  Catherine  of  Aragon,    m.  Henry  VIII.,  1509-1547. 
m.  (2)  Anne  Boleyn. 


Margaret, 
m.  James  IV., 

Jin.  (3)  Jane  Seymour.         King  of 
Scotland. 
Edward  VI.,  1547-1553. 
lizabeth,  1558-1603. 
Mary  I.,  1553-1558. 


CHURCH    AND  STATE. 

THE  sixteenth  century  marks  the  change  from  medieval- 
ism to  modern  society.  It  was  a  time  of  transition,  old 
landmarks  were  passing  away  to  be  replaced  by  a  new 
world  with  different  ideals,  organized  on  a  different  basis. 
The  temper  of  the  times  was  favorable  to  experiments, 
eager  for  reforms.  Rapid  movement  and  restless  activity 
characterized  an  age  fruitful  in  large  ideas  and  in  epoch- 

166 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation.  167 

making  events.  The  old  conception  of  Christendom  as  a 
great  commonwealth  ruled  by  pope  and  emperor  disap- 
peared with  the  fifteenth  century,  and  for  the  next  hundred 
years  the  fortunes  of  Europe  were  in  the  hands  of  the  two 
strong  centralized  states  of  France  and  Spain.  The  six- 
teenth century  saw  the  break-up  of  ecclesiastical  unity 
with  the  revolt  of  half  the  Christian  world  against  the 
spiritual  dominion  of  the  pope.  Outside  the  realm  of  pol- 
itics and  religion,  even  vaster  changes  were  taking  place. 
To  the  material  world  of  the  fifteenth  century  a  whole 
continent  had  been  added,  and  the  Atlantic,  formerly  a 
boundary,  was  now  the  highway  between  the  Old  World 
and  the  New.  The  deadened  intelligence  of  Europe  was 
stirred  by  the  wonders  suddenly  revealed,  the  chains  of 
medieval  thought  were  thrown  off,  and  the  intellectual 
life  of  the  age  thrilled  in  response  to  the  new  vigor  of 
the  world  of  action. 

England  could  not  remain  unaffected  by  the  changes  that 
were  taking  place.  She  had  her  Renaissance,  her  Reforma- 
tion, and  her  future  was  linked  more  closely  perhaps  than 
any  other  to  the  newly  discovered  world  bejrond  the 
seas.  But  at  first  she  stood  somewhat  aloof,  content  to  de- 
velop along  the  old  well-trodden  lines.  Henry  VII.,  the  „  ~ 
first  of  the  Tudor  line,  was  scarcely  thirty  when  he  1485-1509. 
ascended  the  throne.  His  tastes  were  literary  and  artistic, 
and  he  sympathized  ardently  with  the  intellectual  revival 
of  his  time,  but  his  reign  was  one  continuous  struggle  to 
make  secure  the  throne  which  treachery  and  a  successful 
battle  had  given  him.  He  had  no  claim  to  the  crown  upon 
which  he  could  rely,  even  the  Lancastrians  were  not  united 
in  his  support.  His  security  lay  in  the  lack  of  any  power- 
ful rival  and  in  the  political  exhaustion  of  the  country. 
The  nobility,  diminished  in  number  and  still  more  in 
wealth  and  influence,  was  not  strong  enough  to  be  formid- 


168 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Court  of  the 
Star  Chamber. 


In  1496  a 
commercial 
treaty  .the 
Great  Inter- 
course, was 
concluded 
with  the 
Netherlands. 


able  alone,  and  the  Church,  alarmed  by  attacks  upon  its 
doctrine  and  its  property,  clung  to  the  throne  for  support, 
while  the  people,  weary  of  bloodshed,  turned  eagerly  from 
war  to  trade  and  commerce,  and  were  ready  to  give  their 
allegiance  to  any  ruler  who  would  establish  order  and  main- 
tain peace.  In  many  ways  Henry's  reign  may  be  looked 
upon  as  a  continuation  of  that  of  Edward  IV.  To  establish 
his  rule  and  to  make  himself  independent  of  Parliament, 
was  the  object  of  his  policy.  He  bore  heavily  upon  the  no- 
bility, exacting  benevolences  and  reviving  forgotten  feudal 
dues.  The  statutes  of  maintenance  and  livery  were 
rigorously  enforced.  To  remedy  the  weakness  of  the  ordi- 
nary courts  in  dealing  with  great  offenders, 
he  formed  a  new  tribunal  which  could  be 
neither  bribed  nor  bullied.  While  thus  hold- 
ing the  nobility  in  check,  Henry  courted  the 
favor  of  the  industrial  classes  by  sparing 
their  pockets,  and  by  encouraging  trade  and 
commerce.  To  this  end  he  furthered  com- 
mercial intercourse  with  the  Continent,  but 
he  carefully  kept  out  of  political  compli- 
cations. Peace  at  any  price  was  his  policy, 
and  he  strove  to  gain  his  ends  by  diplomacy 
and  by  judicious  marriage  alliances.  He 
disarmed  Scotland  by  marrying  his  oldest 
daughter  Margaret  to  the  Scotch  king,  and 
he  strengthened  the  connection  with  Spain  by  obtaining  as 
a  bride  for  his  son  Prince  Arthur,  Catherine,  the  daughter 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  His  work  was  crowned  with 
success.  The  spirit  of  opposition  was  thoroughly  cowed, 
and  two  risings  in  support  of  pretenders  to  the  throne  were 
easily  quelled.  Constitutional  aspirations  were  checked, 
few  Parliaments  were  called,  and  the  personal  rule  of  the 
king  replaced  the  old  limited  monarchy.  As  a  result  of  his 


A  Knight  of 
the  Reign  of 
Henry  VII. 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation.  169 

cautious  if  inglorious  policy,  Henry  left  to  his  son  and  heir 
a  secure  throne,  a  full  treasury,  and  a  prosperous  people. 

The  accession  of  Henry  VIII.  marks  an  epoch  in  Eng-  Henry  vra. 
lish  history.     Young,   vigorous,  conscious  of  power,   and   l 
filled  with  ambition,  he  could  not  be  content  to  play  the 
unaggressive  waiting  part  so  well  suited  to  his  father's 
temper.    The  home  and  foreign  policy  of  his  reign  was, 
however,  not  so  much  the  conception  of  the  king  as  of  his   wolsey's 
great  minister,  Thomas  Wolsey,  who  for  a  number  of  years  P°licy- 
held  supreme  power  in  Church  and  State,  uniting  in  him- 
self the  functions  of  Chancellor  and  Cardinal.    Wolsey's 
aim  was  to  make  the  king  absolute  in  England,  England 
first  in  Europe.    He  felt  that  the 
royal    authority   was   the   only 
means  of  holding  the  country  to- 
gether,  and  that  the  time  had 
come  for  England  to  take  part  in 
continental  affairs  if  she  would 
maintain    her     place     among 
nations.    Peace  was  his  policy, 

however,    and     diplomacy    his   Female  Costume  of  the  Reign 

„      ,       ,  of  Henry  VII. 

weapon.    England  was  to  make 

her  influence  felt  not  through  conquest,  but  by  holding  the 
balance  between  the  rival  states  of  France  and  Spain  now 
contending  for  mastery  in  Europe.  For  a  tune  he  was 
successful.  Henry  was  popular  among  his  subjects,  and 
Parliament  was  usually  subservient  to  his  will,  although  on 
two  occasions  it  offered  a  vigorous  resistance  to  the  royal 
demand  for  money.  Abroad,  English  influence  was  slowly 
making  itself  felt  even  if  her  "threats  were  more  effi- 
cacious than  her  performances,"  for  her  army  and  navy 
were  ill-equipped,  and  her  population  was  small  as  com- 
pared with  other  states. 
Wolsey,  however,  was  not  destined  to  complete  his  un- 


170  The  Groivth  of  the  English  Nation. 

dertaking.  Forces  were  at  work  which  were  to  transform 
England  and  undo  much  that  he  had  accomplished. 

The  Reforma-      OQ  the  Continent,  the  fierce  passions  of  religious  revolu- 

Gennany.  tion  were  stirring.     Men  had  long  been  ready  for  revolt 

against  the  misused  authority  of  the  papacy,  and  the 
attacks  of  Martin  Luther,  a  Saxon  friar,  on  the  teachings 
and  practices  of  the  Church  found  a  quick  response.  Eng- 
land was  not  slow  to-  feel  the  impulse  of  the  new  move- 
ment. Lollardry  had  accustomed  men  to  criticize  the 
Church.  The  bold,  vigorous,  intellectual  spirit  of  the  age 
was  impatient  of  the  superstition  and  ignorance  of  the 
clergy.  The  very  greatness  of  the  resources  of  the  Church 
made  its  misuse  of  them  the  more  flagrant.  Books  and 
pamphlets  from  Germany  flooded  the  country,  Cambridge 
became  a  hotbed  of  heresy,  associations  were  formed  for 
the  study  and  circulation  of  the  Bible  recently  translated 

1526-  by  Tyndale,  and  rendered  accessible  through  the  printing 

press.  It  was  plain  that  the  seeming  strength  and  power 
of  the  Church  was  a  mere  shadow,  wholly  dependent  upon 
royal  support.  As  yet,  Henry  was  unwavering  in  his  loy- 
alty, but  his  temper  was  too  selfish,  his  love  of  popularity 
too  great  to  afford  any  security  for  the  future. 

The  immediate  occasion  for  the  crisis  was,  however,  in 
appearance  insignificant  and  far  removed.  In  the  beginning 
of  his  reign  Henry,  having  first  obtained  the  necessary 

divorce.  papal  dispensation,  had  married  Catherine,  the  widow  of 

his  brother  Arthur.  For  almost  twenty  years  they  had 
lived  together,  and  she  had  borne  him  several  children, 
of  whom,  however,  only  one,  the  Princess  Mary,  survived. 
At  length  the  king's  scruples  were  awakened  as  to  the 
validity  of  the  marriage.  He  began  to  doubt  the  pope's 
power  to  grant  the  dispensation.  Henry  was  skilful  in 
finding  conscientious  reasons  for  gratifying  his  selfish 
desires.  It  is  probable  that  it  was  the  bright  eyes  and 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation. 


171 


merry  wit  of  Anne  Boleyn,  one  of  Catherine's  ladies-in- 
waiting,  that  aroused  him  to  the  sinfulnessof  his  condition. 
Moreover,  he  realized  the  danger  to  the  peace  of  the  country 
in  the  lack  of  a  male  heir.  As  Catherine  proudly  spurned 
the  suggestion  that  she  should  quietly  submit  to  being 
set  aside,  Henry  was  forced  to  appeal  to  the  pope  for  a 
divorce.  But  Clement  was  not  free  to  act,  for  he  was 
practically  in  the  power  of  the  emperor,  Catherine's 
nephew.  He  agreed,  however,  to  let  the  case  be  tried  by 
a  legatine  commission  in  England.  Cited  before  the  court, 
the  outraged  queen  pleaded  her 
cause  to  the  king  in  pathetic 
words:  "Sir,"  she  said,  "I  be- 
seech you  for  all  the  loves  that 
have  been  between  us,  and  for 
the  love  of  God,  let  me  have  jus- 
tice and  right,  take  of  me  some 
pity  and  compassion,  for  I  am 
a  poor  woman  and  a  stranger 
born  out  of  your  dominion,  I 
have  here  no  assured  friend,  and 
much  less  indifferent  counsel ;  I  flee  to  you  as  to  the  head  of 
justice  within  this  realm.  Alas  !  Sir,  wherein  have  I 
offended  you?  ...  I  take  God  and  all  the  world  to 
witness,  that  I  have  been  to  you  a  true,  humble,  and 
obedient  wife,  ever  conformable  to  your  will  and  pleasure." 
Popular  sympathy  was  with  the  queen,  but  Henry  was  un- 
moved. Nevertheless  he  could  not  gain  his  purpose,  for 
the  pope  dared  not  annul  the  marriage,  and  the  trial 
before  the  legates  ended  in  nothing.  The  king's  dis- 
appointment, however,  led  at  once  to  the  overthrow  of 
Wolsey,  on  whom  he  most  unreasonably  threw  the  blame 
of  defeat.  With  untiring  zeal  and  personal  devotion  the 
Cardinal  had  labored  in  the  interest  of  the  king  and  for  the 


Henry  VIII.    From  his 
Great  Seal. 


172 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Thomas 

Cromwell, 

vicar-general. 


Long  Parlia- 
ment of  the 
Reformation. 
1529-1536. 


good  of  England.  To  Henry  he  had  given  the  credit  of 
every  success.  The  odium  of  all  unpopular  measures  he  had 
taken  upon  himself.  He  had  made  the  king  absolute  at 
home,  and  had  raised  England  from  a  third  rate  power 
to  the  rank  of  a  great  state.  But  no  memory  of  past 
services  could  impose  a  check  on  Henry's  selfishness. 
Wolsey  had  failed  to  procure  the  divorce  that  he  wished, 
and  with  royal  ingratitude  he  threw  the  minister  aside. 

Wolsey's  fall  prepared  the  way  for  momentous  changes  in 
Church  and  State.  The  aim  of  Thomas  Cromwell,  his  suc- 
cessor in  Henry's  confidence,  was,  like  Wolsey's,  the  con- 
centration of  all  power  in  the  hands  of  the  king,  but  the 
methods  used  were  different.  Rapidity  and  boldness  were 
the  watchwords  of  his  policy.  During  the  next  ten  years 
every  constitutional  safeguard  was  swept  away,  every  limi- 
tation on  the  royal  will  was  removed,  and  the  government 
became  a  despotism  pure  and  simple.  No  man  was  too 
high,  no  interest  too  powerful  to  lead  him  to  stay  his  hand. 
It  was  at  his  advice  that  Henry  by  the  assertion  of  the 
royal  supremacy  freed  himself  from  Catherine.  Where 
Wolsey  strove  to  rule  without  Parliament,  Cromwell  made 
it  his  tool.  The  first  indication  of  the  change  from  the 
conservative  action  of  the  Cardinal  was  shown  in  the  work 
of  the  Parliament  that  met  in  1529  and  sat  for  seven  years. 

Henry  was  willing  to  acknowledge  the  power  of  the 
pope  so  long  as  that  power  was  used  to  further  his  will,  but 
he  now  began  to  doubt  the  usefulness  of  an  institution  that 
stood  in  his  way.  The  Church  in  England  also  had 
aroused  his  hostility  by  espousing  the  cause  of  Catherine, 
and  he  was  ready  to  respond  to  the  national  demand  for  re- 
form. The  beginning  once  made,  the  advance  was  rapid  ; 
one  abuse  after  another  was  attacked.  The  clergy  were 
deprived  of  their  privileges,  the  Church  was  made  more 
dependent  on  the  crown,  and  the  connection  with  Rome 


The  Tadors  and  the  Reformation.  173 


was  weakened  by  a  statute  forbidding  all  appeal.  Finally 
in  1534  the  last  step  was  taken  by  the  passing  of  the  Act  of 
Supremacy  by  which  the  king  became  "  the  only  supreme 
head  on  earth  of  the  Church  of  England." 

As  a  whole  the  attack  on  the  abuses  of  the  Church  and  Attitude  of  the 
the  changes  in  the  ecclesiastical  system  met  with  popular 
approval.  A  few,  among  them  Sir  Thomas  More,  foremost 
of  English  scholars,  refused  to  acknowledge  the  royal 
supremacy,  and  were  put  to  death,  but  the  majority  of 
the  nation  went  with  Henry  in  his  breach  with  the  papacy. 
Even  when  Convocation  at  the  instance  of  the  king  drew 
up  the  Ten  Articles,  a  statement  of  doctrine  which  showed  a 
decided  advance  toward  Lutheranism,  there  was  little  oppo- 
sition. Nevertheless  the  national  temper  was  conservative, 
and  the  ancient  Church  still  held  men's  hearts  if  not 
their  minds.  The  excesses  of  some  of  those  who  had  em- 
braced the  reformed  doctrines,  their  attacks  on  shrines  and 
holy  relics,  gave  deep  offense.  Popular  dissatisfaction  was 
increased  by  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries.  This  action 
had  long  been  impending,  the  age  of  monasticism  had 
passed,  and  as  a  rule  the  religious  establishments  had 
become  mere  landowning  corporations,  chiefly  interested  in 
adding  to  their  own  wealth.  Henry  and  Cromwell,  led  by 

I n  15oo  t  rit^ 

a  desire  to  get  at  the  revenues,  caused  Parliament  to  pass  smaller  mon- 
asteries were 

measures  suppressing  all  monasteries  and  confiscating  their  dissolved.  All 

others  were 

property  to  the  crown.     Part  of  the  wealth  was  used  for  suppressed  in 

1599. 

national  purposes,  but  the  greater  portion  was  squandered 
upon  the  nobles  and  courtiers  about  the  king.  That  these 
measures  were  opposed  by  the  people  was  shown  by  a 
rising  in  the  north  in  1536.  Many  of  the  gentry  and 
nobility  and  the  country  people  led  by  the  parish  priests 
joined  the  Pilgrimage  of  Grace,  as  the  movement  was 
called,  and  demanded  the  restoration  of  the  monasteries, 
the  extirpation  of  heresy,  and  the  overthrow  of  Cromwell. 


174  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

In  the  main,  Henry  was  at  one  with  the  people.  He 
would  have  been  content  with  separation  from  Rome.  At 
heart  he  was  opposed  to  doctrinal  change,  and  with  the 
extravagances  of  the  Protestants  he  had  no  sympathy 
whatever.  He  was  ready  to  unite  with  a  majority  of  the 
nation,  and  set  a  limit  to  the  incoming  flood  of  religious 
innovation.  Parliament,  as  usual  completely  subservient 
to  his  will,  passed  in  1539  an  act  for  "  abolishing  diversity  of 
opinion  in  certain  articles  concerning  Christian  religion." 
articled.  The  s*x  articles*  of  the  act  contained  the  fundamental 

Catholic  doctrines  and  closed  the  way  to  even  moderate 
reform.  Under  the  "  whip  with  six  strings,"  persecution  of 
the  Protestants  followed,  and  many  suffered  for  conscience' 
sake.  Nevertheless,  Henry  abated  nothing  of  his  preten- 
sions, and  "at  the  very  moment  that  heretics  were  suffer- 
ing for  denial  of  the  mass,  others  were  suffering  by  their 
side  for  denial  of  the  supremacy."  Throughout  the  re- 
maining years  of  his  reign  he  succeeded  in  maintaining  an 
uncertain  balance  between  the  old  and  the  new  order,  but 
it  was  plain  that  a  tide  of  feeling  was  rising  which  would 
soon  sweep  away  all  compromises. 

Political  considerations  strengthened  Henry's  natural 
conservatism.  Cromwell's  foreign  policy  was  based  on  a 
union  with  the  Protestant  princes  of  North  Germany,  and 
it  was  in  the  interest  of  this  plan  that  the  king  for  a  time 
connived  at  the  progress  of  the  Reformation  in  England. 
A  marriage  between  Henry,  who  was  now  a  widower  for 
the  third  time,  and  a  German  princess  was  a  part  of  Crom- 
well's scheme.  But  the  grand  alliance  against  the  emperor 
came  to  naught  in  1539,  and  the  minister's  doom  was  sealed 
by  his  failure  to  give  the  king  a  wife  according  to  his  taste. 


*  The  Act  of  Six  Articles  asserted :  (1)  The  truth  of  transubstantiation ; 
(2)  the  sufficiency  of  communion  in  one  kind ;  (3)  clerical  celibacy ; 
(4)  the  obligation  of  vows  of  chastity :  (5)  the  necessity  of  private 
masses  ;  (6)  that  auricular  confession  should  be  retained. 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation. 


175 


Henry  VIII. 


Nothing  could  save   Cromwell    from   the   usual    fate    of  Faii  of  Crom- 
Henry's  instruments  when  no  longer  needed.  Charged  with   weU' 1540< 
treason,  he  was  sent  to  the  scaf- 
fold by  bill  of  attainder  without 
being  heard  in  his  own  defense. 
Cromwell's  overthrow  was  but 
the  natural  result  of  the  system 
which   he   had   built   up.     All 
power  was  concentrated  in  the 
hands  of  the  king,  the  Church 
lay  at  his  feet,  Parliament  simply 
registered   his  will.     Neverthe- 
less, Henry  did  not  lose  touch 
with  the  nation  ;  he  understood 
the  temper  of  his  subjects,  and, 
unscrupulous  and  self-seeking  though  he  was,  he  still  won 
popular  approval  even  while  treading  popular  liberty  under 
foot. 
Edward  VI.   was  a  mere  boy  when  he  ascended   the  _ 

Edward  VI. 

throne,  and  during  his  reign  the  government  was  in  the  1547-W58. 
hands  of  his  ministers,  chief  of  whom  was  his  uncle,  the 
Duke  of  Somerset.  Personal  feeling  as  well  as  self-interest 
led  Somerset  to  oppose  the  old  ecclesiastical  order.  In  his 
policy  he  was  supported  by  the  young  king,  who  was  a 
Protestant  by  conviction,  and  who,  with  all  the  conceit  of  a 
precocious  boy,  was  determined  to  force  his  views  upon  the 
country.  The  short  reign  was  a  period  of  religious  revo- 
lution. By  law  or  royal  injunction,  changes  were  intro- 
duced with  bewildering  rapidity.  The  sacred  images  were 
removed  from  the  churches,  the  beautiful  stained  glass  was 
broken,  and  the  pictures  painted  on  the  walls  were  covered 
with  whitewash.  Of  more  permanent  importance  was  the 
substitution  of  the  vernacular  for  Latin  in  the  church 
ritual.  The  mass  was  replaced  by  the  communion  service  in 


176 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  English 


andbrevfary. 


English,  and  a  book  of  common  prayer,  still  in  use  almost 
unchanged,  was  substituted  for  the  Latin  missal  and 
breviary-  Upon  the  authority  of  the  king,  forty-two 
artic^es  smacking  strongly  of  Calvinism  were  promul- 
gated as  the  national  standard  of  faith.  The  confiscation 
of  church  property  was  carried  to  a  length  unthought  of 
by  Henry.  Somerset  leaned  for  support  upon  the  "  new 
men,"  the  nobility  enriched  by  the  plunder  of  the  monas- 
teries, and  it  was  necessary  to  satisfy  his  rapacious  follow- 
ing. The  chantries  were  despoiled.  Gild  property  devoted 
to  religious  uses  was  appropriated,  and  the  revenues  of 
some  of  the  bishoprics  were  seized.  These  revolutionary 
measures  were  hurried  through  with  every  aggravation  of 
insult,  and  with  small  regard  to  popular  feeling.  A  writer 
of  the  time  says  :  "  Also  this  same  time  was  moche  spek- 
ing  agayne  the  sacrament  of  the  auter,  that  some  callyd  it 
Jacke  of  the  Boxe,  with  divers  other  shamfulle  names  .  .  . 
and  at  this  time  was  moche  preching  agayne  the  masse  and 
the  sacrament  of  the  auter  pullyd  downe  in  divers  placys." 
It  soon  became  plain  that  the  nation  was  not  ready  for 
such  extreme  action.  The  feeling  of  discontent  was  gen- 
eral. All  opposition  was,  however,  put  down  with  a  high 
hand.  The  opposing  clergy  were  bridled  by  decrees  that 
there  should  be  no  preaching  except  by  a  few  licensed 
preachers  ;  and  some  of  the  bishops  who  clung  to  the 
older  doctrines  were  thrown  into  prison. 

The  political  policy  of  the  government  was  as  ill-judged 
as  its  ecclesiastical  reforms.  The  country  was  involved  in 
causeless  wars  with  Scotland  and  France,  and  the  bur- 
den of  taxation  was  heavy.  At  length  the  prevailing  dis- 
content found  expression  in  a  rising  in  Devon  and  Corn- 
wall, followed  by  another  in  Norfolk.  The  only  result  was 
the  overthrow  of  Somerset.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Earl 
of  Warwick  who  proved  no  wiser  nor  better.  Nevertheless 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation.  177 

p 


the  country  remained  quiet,  looking  to  the  time  when  the   Warwick  pur- 


young  king  would  come  of  age  and  set  things  right.    Had 

Edward  lived,  his  fanatical  temper  would  probably  have  J££  J  Jane 

—  v*rcyj  grant 

brought  matters  to  a  crisis,  but  in  1553  he  died,  and,  in  spite 

of  a  conspiracy  headed  by  Warwick  to  set  her  aside,  Mary  of  Henry  viu. 

obtained  the  crown  without  striking  a  blow. 

The  religious  system  which  Edward  and  his  advisers  had 
built  up  rested  solely  on  the  will  of  the  king,  and  at  the  ac- 
cession  of  Mary  a  reaction  at  once  set  in.  Without  the 
interference  of  the  government,  mass  was  restored  and  the 
forms  and  practices  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  were 
reestablished.  Mary,  however,  was  not  content  with  a 
return  to  the  system  of  her  father  ;  she  wished  to  restore 
the  ancient  order  in  all  its  completeness,  to  set  up  the 
monasteries  again,  to  renew  the  connection  with  Rome.  It 
was  in  part  to  further  her  religious  scheme  that  she  de- 
sired to  marry  her  cousin  Philip  of  Spain.  At  first 
Parliament  showed  itself,  as  usual,  obedient  to  the  royal 
will,  but  it  soon  became  evident  that  there  was  a  limit  to 
its  complaisance,  and  that  in  its  opposition  it  was  sup- 
ported by  the  country.  It  was  certain  that  reconciliation 
with  Home  could  never  be  brought  about  if  it  meant  the 
restoration  of  the  abbey  lands  in  which  forty  thousand  fam- 
ilies were  interested.  Moreover,  national  feeling  was 
aroused  at  the  idea  of  the  Spanish  marriage  which  might 
bring  not  simply  ecclesiastical  subjection  to  Rome,  but  polit- 
ical dependence  upon  Spain.  Parliament,  however,  was  at 
length  brought  to  the  point  of  acknowledging  the  spiritual 
leadership  of  the  pope,  on  condition  that  the  monastic 
lands  should  be  left  undisturbed,  and  the  Spanish  marriage 
was  finally  consummated  in  spite  of  the  opposition  at  home 
and  abroad,  and  the  lukewarmness  of  the  bridegroom  who, 
much  as  he  prized  the  crown  of  England,  cared  little  for 
its  wearer. 


178  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

Mary  was  not  content,  however;  she  believed  that  "  she 
had  been  preserved  by  God  in  the  succession  of  the  crown 
Persecution.  for  no  other  end  save  that  He  might  make  use  of  her  above 
all  else  in  the  bringing  back  of  the  realm  to  the  Catholic 
faith."  In  forcing  her  views  upon  the  nation  she  showed 
all  the  self-will  of  the  Tudors,  united  to  the  intemperate 
zeal  of  the  fanatic.  Her  advisers  hesitated  ;  even  Philip 
counseled  moderation,  but  nothing  could  deter  the  queen 
from  the  work  upon  which  she  had  set  her  heart.  She 
forced  from  Parliament  a  renewal  of  Henry's  laws  against 
heresy,  and  at  once  pressed  on  their  execution.  From  1555 
to  1558  persecution  raged.  Neither  high  nor  low  were 
spared.  The  Martyrs'  Memorial  at  Oxford  marks  the  place 
where  Ridley,  the  deprived  bishop  of  London,  and  Lati- 
mer,  Henry  the  Eighth's  favorite  preacher,  were  burned 
side  by  side.  "  Play  the  man,  Master  Ridley,"  were  Lati- 
mer's  last  words,  "we  shall  this  day  light  up  such  a  candle 
by  God's  grace  in  England  as  I  trust  shall  never  be  put 
out."  Foremost  of  the  martyrs  stood  Cranmer,  primate 
btshop'ofCan-  of  the  Church.  Of  great  learning,  but  of  cautious  temper, 
ceive  the^paii  ne  had  slowly  come  to  take  an  advanced  stand  in  oppo- 
from  Rome.  gjtion  to  the  papal  pretensions  ;  but  though  his  conviction 
was  strong  his  heart  was  weak,  and  he  shrank  before  the 
final  test.  Six  successive  times  he  recanted  in  the  hope  of 
purchasing  pardon,  but  pardon  was  out  of  the  question  ; 
he  stood  as  a  representative  of  English  Protestantism,  and, 
moreover,  Mary  was  personally  hostile  to  him  as  an  active 
agent  in  her  mother's  divorce.  When  once  his  final  doom 
was  pronounced  he  regained  his  courage.  "  I  have  written 
many  things  untrue,"  he  said,  "  and  forasmuch  as  my 
hand  offended  in  writing  contrary  to  my  heart,  my  hand 
therefore  shall  be  the  first  burnt."  Nearly  three  hundred, 
in  all,  suffered  for  the  right  of  individual  conscience — most 
of  them  in  the  towns  and  thickly  settled  districts,  for  there 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation.  179 

new  opinions  found  more  ready  acceptance  than   in  the 
country. 

Darkened  by  bitter  disappointment,  the  life  of  the  un- 
happy queen  drew  to  a  close.  A  loving  wife,  she  was 
forced  to  see  that  Philip  had  sought  in  her  merely  the 
instrument  of  his  political  schemes.  Through  the  Spanish 
connection,  England  was  involved  in  a  useless  war  with 
France  which  had  resulted  in  the  loss  of  Calais.  This  was 
a  heavy  blow  to  the  nation,  and  Mary  was  too  much  a  1558 
Tudor  not  to  feel  the  popular  disapproval  visited  upon 
her.  Moreover,  all  her  efforts  had  brought  England  no 
nearer  the  old  faith,  nay,  had  rather  frustrated  her  purpose. 
Men  looked  askance  at  a  church  that  could  maintain  itself 
only  through  persecution. 

"  It  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvelous  in  our  eyes," 
was  Elizabeth's  exclamation  when  informed  of  her  peaceful 
accession  to  the  throne.  The  task  before  her  was  one  to 
daunt  a  heart  less  strong.  England  stood  almost  alone  in 
Europe,  at  war  with  France,  the  treasury  empty,  without 
army  or  navy.  Her  only  security  lay  in  the  rivalry  be- 
tween France  and  Spain.  The  internal  condition  of  the 
country  was  even  more  critical.  Religious  strife  had 
passed  beyond  the  point  of  reconciliation.  The  bulk  of  the 
nation  longed  for  peace  and  might  have  agreed  to  a  return 
to  the  system  of  Henry  VIII.,  but  that  was  impossible,  for 
the  Catholic  party  was  bent  on  maintaining  the  connection 
with  Rome,  while  persecution  had  made  more  fierce  and 
uncompromising  the  temper  of  the  Protestants.  Elizabeth 
had  little  sympathy  with  either  extreme.  The  Protestant 
contempt  for  authority  and  tradition  was  distasteful  to 
her.  Subjection  to  Rome  was  out  of  the  question,  for  the 
pope  refused  to  recognize  her  claim  to  the  throne.  But 
she  approached  all  religious  questions  in  the  temper  of  the 
politician.  She  was  not  blind  to  the  fact  that  the  Protes- 


180 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Elizabeth's 

religious 

policy. 


tants  were  her  surest  support,  that  her  cause  was  theirs. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  she  knew  that  severe  measures 
against  the  Catholics  would  open  the  way  to  foreign 
intrigue.  To  establish  national  unity  in  Church  and  State 
was  the  aim  of  her  home  policy,  and  to  this  end  a  religious 
settlement  was  to  be  devised  which  would  win  the  support 

of  the  moderates  and 
drive  no  one  to  ex- 
tremes. In  religious 
matters,  Elizabeth 
was  content  to  move 
slowly.  The  suprem- 
a  c  y  was  restored, 
mass  was  abolished, 
and  an  Act  of  Uni- 
formity decreed  the 
use  of  King  Ed- 
ward's Prayer  Book. 
But  although  the 
oath  of  supremacy 
was  rigorously  ex- 
acted from  the  bish- 
ops, all  but  one  pre- 
ferring deprivation  to 
compliance,  the  ma- 
jority of  the  clergy 
were  left  unmolested. 
Nor  was  the  Act  of  Uniformity  very  severely  enforced.  The 
queen  feared  above  all  things  the  renewal  of  strife  ;  she  dis- 
couraged preaching,  and  she  would  gladly  have  abated  the 
interest  of  her  subjects  in  religious  questions.  There  was 
no  revolution  ;  the  changes  were  scarcely  noticed,  and  yet, 
within  a  year  after  Elizabeth's  accession,  England  had 
ranged  herself  once  for  all  on  the  side  of  Protestantism. 


Queen  Elizabeth. 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation.  181 

The  condition  of  affairs  beyond  the  border  was  at  this   England  and 
time  a  serious  menace  to  Elizabeth's  throne,  and  made  Mary  stuart- 
religious  contest  more  than  ever  to  be  feared.    In  1558  the 
long-standing  friendship  between  France  and  Scotland  was 
cemented  by  the  marriage  of  Mary,  the  young  Scotch 

queen,  to  the  Dauphin  of  France.     Denying  the  right  of 

Mary  Stuart, 
Elizabeth  on  the  ground  of  illegitimacy,  Mary  assumed  the   daughter  of 

title  'and  style  of  Queen  of  England.    The  danger  of  her  Scotland,  and 

granddaugh- 

claim  lay  in  the  certain  support  of  France  and  the  English   ter  of  Marga- 
ret, elder  sis- 

Catholics.    Left  a  widow   by  the   sudden    death  of  her  ter  of  Henry 

VIII. 

husband,  Mary  returned  home  to  find  her  kingdom  rent  by 
civil  strife  and  religious  dissension.  She  was  a  mere  girl 
of  nineteen,  but  in  her  were  combined  womanly  beauty 
and  grace  with  masculine  vigor  of  body  and  mind.  For  a 
moment  discord  was  silenced  by  her  skilful  diplomacy  and 
personal  fascination.  She  united  the  warring  nobles  in 
her  support,  and  settled  the  religious  question  by  acknowl- 
edging the  Calviuist  establishment.  These  measures  were 
but  the  first  steps  toward  the  attainment  of  the  real  end 
of  her  policy,  a  Catholic  combination  which  would  place 
her  on  the  English  throne.  Unfortunately  for  Mary's  suc- 
cess, the  achievements  of  her  diplomacy  were  speedily 
undone  by  the  ungoverned  passion  of  her  nature.  In  1565 
she  made  a  political  marriage  with  her  cousin  Lord 
Darnley.  He  was  a  miserable  creature,  ill-fitted  for  such  a 
wife.  Mary's  contempt  for  her  weakling  husband  was  soon 
turned  to  hate  by  his  cruel  murder  of  her  friend  and  secre- 
tary, Rizzio.  "  No  more  tears,"  she  exclaimed  at  the  news 
of  the  deed,  "  I  will  think  upon  revenge."  A  few  months 
later  Darnley  was  assassinated  at  Kirk  o'  Field,  a  lonely 
house  near  Edinburgh.  Mary's  part  in  the  affair  is 
doubtful,  but  at  any  rate  she  did  not  scruple  to  marry 
within  three  months  the  man  generally -held  to  be  chiefly 
instrumental  in  the  deed.  Brutal  and  self-seeking  as  he 


182  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

was,  the  Earl  of  Both  well  had  succeeded  in  winning  Mary's 
passionate  devotion,  and  for  his  sake  she  threw  away 
crown  and  reputation.  Her  subjects  were  filled  with  horror 
at  her  act,  and  within  a  month  Bothwell  had  gone  into 
exile,  and  the  queen  was  a  prisoner  in  Edinburgh.  Before 
another  year  was  past  she  had  abdicated  in  favor  of  her  son 
James,  born  of  her  marriage  with  Darnley,  and  had  fled  to 
England  to  throw  herself  on  the  mercy  of  Elizabeth.  It 
was  not  an  easy  question  for  the  English  government  to 
face.  To  replace  Mary  by  force  upon  the  Scotch  throne  was 
out  of  the  question,  nor  did  it  seem  wise  to  let  her  go  free 
to  stir  up  trouble  among  the  Catholics.  The  difficulty  was 
met  by  holding  her  virtually  a  prisoner  in  England. 

During  the  following  years,  the  country,  under  Eliza- 
beth's cautious  guidance,  was  quietly  preparing  for  the  crisis 
of  the  reign.    Religious  war  raged  on  the  Continent,  but 
by  skilfully  balancing  one  party  against  another,  while 
committing  herself  to  none,  Elizabeth  kept  England  at 
peace.    An  ever  present  danger  was  the  Catholic  party. 
The  hostile  spirit  of  the  pope  and  a  rising  of  the  Catholic 
nobility  of  the  north  in  favor  of  Mary,  led  the  government 
x  to  severer  measures  of  repression,  and  freedom  of  thought 
The  Thirty-        was  interfered  with  as  well  as  freedom  of  worship.    The 
?56^  Articles>      acceptance  of  thirty-nine  of  the  Articles  of  Edward  was 
demanded  of  the  clergy,  and  by  the  Test  Act,  the  first  in 
passedCin  1562    a  l°n&  series  °f  penal  statutes  against  the  Catholics,  the 
generally  o&th  of  abnegation  was  exacted    from    all    officeholders, 

enforced.  por  ^e  present,  the  adherents  of  Rome  remained  quiet, 

disheartened  by  the  defeat  of  the  Scotch  intrigue  and  the 
inactivity  of  the  Catholic  rulers  of  the  Continent.  In 
the  growing  dissatisfaction  of  some  of  the  Protestants 
The  Puritans  there  was  a  hint,  however,  of  coming  trouble.  Many 
among  the  nation  felt  that  the  queen  had  not  gone  far 
enough  in  the  settlement  of  the  religious  question.  They 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation. 


183 


had  no  thought  of  separating  from  the  Church  as  estab- 
lished, and  they  did  not  wish  the  abolition  of  Episcopacy, 
but  they  contended  for  greater  purity  of  worship,  for  the 
rejection  of  certain  practices  and  rites  that  suggested 
Rome.  These  Puritans,  as  they  were  called,  scarcely  rep- 
resented the  nation  as  a  whole,  but  they  were  active  and 
intelligent,  and  constituted  a  strong  element  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  More  than  once  their  independence  and 
bold  speech  brought  them  into  conflict  with  the  queen, 
who  had  little  patience  with 
their  religious  aspirations  or  po- 
litical views.  They  were  desirous 
that  England  should  commit 
herself  to  a  decided  Protestant 
policy  by  taking  sides  with  the 
French  Huguenots  and  the  re- 
volted Netherlands.  Moreover, 
they  felt  that  the  safety  of  the 
nation  depended  upon  the 
queen's  marriage  with  a  Protes- 
tant and  the  settlement  of  the 
succession.  Both  requests  Elizabeth  steadily  refused.  She 
felt  that  decided  measures  would  drive  the  Catholics  to  ex- 
tremes. Moreover,  a  diplomatic  steering  between  two 
courses  was  a  policy  well  suited  to  her  temper,  for  she  found 
nothing  so  difficult  as  making  up  her  mind. 

However,  events  were  soon  to  compel  England  to  take  an 
active  part  in  the  great  struggle  between  the  opposing 
forces  of  Calvinism  and  Rome.  The  pope  had  at  length 
learned  that  the  Protestants  must  be  met  with  their  own 
weapons,  that  revolution  could  be  arrested  only  by  reform. 
The  chief  instrument  of  the  purified  papacy  in  the  task 
of  winning  back  Christendom  to  the  pale  of  the  Romish 
Church  was  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Unquestioning  obedi- 


Costumes  of  the  Reign  of 
Elizabeth,  about  1588. 


184 


The  Groivth  of  the  English  Nation.- 


English 
Catholic 
Seminary  at 
Douay,  in 
Flanders. 


Execution  of 
Mary  Stuart, 
1587. 


ence  and  untiring  devotion  were  shown  by  the  Jesuits  in 
their  work  of  combating  heresy  and  heathenism,  and 
under  their  inspiration  the  broken  ranks  of  the  Catholics 
were  slowly  closing  up.  In  1570  the  pope  issued  a  bull  of 
excommunication  against  Elizabeth,  and  absolved  her  sub- 
jects from  their  allegiance.  This  was  but  preliminary  to  a 
well-organized  plan  for  the  reconquest  of  England.  Jesuits 
from  Douay  wandered  about  the  country  in  various  dis- 
guises, striving  to  revive  the  zeal  of  the  Catholic  party. 
Their  success  was  marked,  and  there  seemed  danger  that 
they  might  undo  all  that  had  been  gained  by  Elizabeth's 
policy  of  compromise.  The  Protestants  and  the  govern- 
ment in  their  fear  magnified  the  danger,  and  strove  to  meet 
it  by  a  revival  of  persecution.  The  priests  were  driven 
from  the  country,  liberty  of  opinion  was  crushed,  and  a 
policy  of  suspicion  and  repression  adopted  toward  all 
Catholics,  which  but  served  to  increase  their  devotion  to 
the  ancient  Church. 

The  fear  of  an  impending  religious  crisis  was  intensified 
by  the  shadow  of  political  danger.  The  power  of  Spain 
was  steadily  growing ;  in  wealth  and  military  strength  she 
held  the  foremost  place,  and  her  great  resources  were 
controlled  by  one  man  whom  national  feeling  as  well  as 
ardor  in  the  cause  of  Rome  made  the  implacable  foe  of 
England.  Not  only  had  Elizabeth  interfered  in  Philip's 
political  and  religious  schemes,  but  her  subjects  were 
waging  a  destructive  if  desultory  war  against  Spanish 
commerce  all  over  the  world.  The  time  was  favorable  for 
action.  France  was  under  the  control  of  the  Guises,  in 
close  alliance  with  Spain,  and  in  the  Netherlands  Parma 
was  gaining  ground  against  the  revolted  Protestants. 
Everywhere  the  temper  of  the  Catholics  was  rising.  Eng- 
land was  not  slow  to  realize  the  situation,  and  the  first 
result  of  her  sense  of  danger  was  the  death  sentence  of 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation.  185 

Mary    Stuart.      For  eighteen  years  the  Scotch  queen,  the  Ridoifl  plot 

1 S72 

center  of  Catholic  intrigue,  had  remained  a  prisoner  on 
English  soil.    Plans  for  the  assassination  of  Elizabeth  had  Babington 
been  more  than  once  discovered,  and  it  was  now  felt  that  1586* 
there  was  but  one  way  of  saving  her  life,  and  that  was  by 
taking  the  life  of  the  woman  whose  existence  alone  gave 
rise  to  such  plans. 

Mary's  death  left  England  free  to  meet  Spanish  hostility 
as  a  national  question  and  forced  Philip  to  conduct  his  q 
attack  in  open  day.  An  invasion  of  England  had  long 
been  planned.  In  1588  the  preparations  were  complete  and 
the  "  Invincible  Armada,"  a  fleet  of  over  one  hundred  and 
twenty  vessels,  set  sail  for  the  English  coast.  With  her 
usual  parsimony  and  dilatoriness  the  queen  had  delayed 
taking  measures  for  defense.  The  navy  contained  but 
thirty-eight  ships  all  told,  most  of  them  small  and  ill- 
equipped.  But  private  enterprise  made  good  the  royal 
shortcomings,  and  the  merchants  of  every  port  sent  their 
best  ships  well-manned  to  take  a  share  in  the  national 
defense.  Moreover,  the  English  were  fired  with  enthu- 
siasm ;  they  longed  "  to  have  a  good,  severe,  open  war  with 
Spain,  as  the  only  road  to  an  honorable  settlement."  But 
English  seamanship  united  to  English  courage  might  have 
failed  to  win  the  day  had  the  winds  not  done  their  part. 
A  terrible  storm  arose,  rendering  unmanageable  the  un- 
wieldy Spanish  vessels.  The  enterprise  ended  in  failure ; 
of  the  great  fleet  but  fifty-four  ships  returned  to  Spain. 

The  defeat  of  the  Armada  marked  the  crisis  of  Eliza-  close  of  the 
beth's   reign.     One  by  one  her   difficulties   had   cleared  Elizabeth, 
away.    There  was  no  fear  of  a  second  attack  from  Spain  ; 
France  was  now  ruled   by  Henry  of  Navarre,  leader  of 
the  Huguenot  party.    All  internal  troubles  had  been  van- 
quished by  her  moderation.    At  the  time  of  the  Armada, 
national    feeling  triumphed    and    the    Catholics    had   re- 


186 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


mained  quiet,  taking  no  advantage  of  the  difficulties  of  the 
government.  By  the  close  of  the  century  many  of  them 
had  found  their  way  into  the  Anglican  Church.  The 
Puritan  spirit  was  growing  stronger,  and  a  few  persons 
declaring  for  independence  had  established  a  separate  sect. 
But  as  a  whole  men  were  united  in  support  of  the  national 
Church.  In  political  matters  there  was  a  good  understand- 
ing between  the  queen  and  her  subjects.  The  administra- 
tion had  been  economical,  and 
as  a  rule  Parliament  had 
cheerfully  granted  the  royal 
demands.  A  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence was  becoming  more 
manifest,  but  the  queen  never 
mistook  the  popular  temper. 
She  might  "  rate  her  Commons 
like  school-boys,"  but  she  could 
yield  gracefully.  The  welfare 
of  the  nation  was  ever  her  chief 
concern.  With  masculine  in- 
tellect and  womanly  devotion  she  had  labored  in  its  service, 
sacrificing  personal  happiness  and  ambitions  in  its  inter- 
est, and  she  spoke  from  the  heart  in  her  last  words  to  the 
Commons,  "Though  you  have  had,  and  may  have  many 
princes,  more  mighty  and  wise,  sitting  in  this  seat,  yet  you 
never  had,  or  ever  shall  have,  any  that  will  be  more  careful 
and  loving." 

THE  ENGLAND  OF  THE  TUDORS. 

The  England  of  to-day,  a  great  maritime,  commercial, 
and  industrial  power,  began  to  take  shape  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  Economic  and  social  conditions  were  changing. 
The  old  medieval  industrial  system  was  breaking  up,  and 
trade  and  commerce,  animated  by  a  keener,  bolder  spirit, 
were  seeking  out  new  channels  of  enterprise.  At  the 


Elizabeth. 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation.  187 

opening  of  the  century  England  was  still  an  agricultural 
country  ;  wheat  and  wool  were  her  staple  crops,  and  she 
bore  to  Flanders  the  relation  that  Australia  now  bears  to 
the  mother  country.  At  its  close,  wool  was  no  longer  sent 
abroad,  but  was  woven  and  spun  at  home.  When  the  first 
Tudor  ascended  the  throne,  England  was  without  a  navy, 
and  much  of  her  carrying  trade  was  in  the  hands  of 
foreigners.  The  defeat  of  the  Armada  a  hundred  years 
later  pointed  to  the  transference  of  the  sovereignty  of  the 
seas  from  Spain  to  her  conqueror,  England. 

Foremost  among  the  causes  for  these  changes  was  the 
discovery  of  the  New  World.  Trade  with  America  had 
become  of  importance,  and  England's  position  gave  her 
at  once  a  superiority  over  all  rivals.  The  religious  con- 
flicts of  the  Continent,  resulting  as  they  did  in  the  disturb- 
ance of  trade  and  industry,  redounded  also  to  England's 
advantage.  It  was  the  destruction  of  Antwerp  by  Alva 
that  made  possible  the  development  of  London  into  the 
leading  mart  of  Europe.  Nor  should  the  policy  of  the  rulers 
be  overlooked.  The  Tudor  rule  was  despotic,  but  at  least  it 
was  paternal,  and  the  statute  books  of  the  century  bear 
proof  to  the  unwearying  interest  of  the  government  in  the 
welfare  of  the  people  and  the  development  of  national 
wealth.  Not  one  detail  of  life  and  industry  was  over- 
looked. Exports  and  imports  were  regulated,  prices  were 

fixed,  the  time  of  sale  was  set,  and  the  quality  and  char- 
statute  of  ap- 

acter  of  goods  to  be   manufactured  decided  ;  wages  were  prentices,  1562, 

regulated  con- 
established  and  the  length  of  service  decreed.    Everywhere   ditions  of  ser- 
vice. 

the  State  interfered,  and,  on  the  whole,  with  good  re- 
sults. 

Such  vast  changes  could  not  be  brought  about  without  Agriculture, 
serious  disturbances  in  society.    The  effect  of  increasing  in- 
dustrial activity  and  the  new  money-getting  spirit  was 
shown  in  the  agrarian  revolution  of  the  early  part  of  the 


188  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

century.     Wool-growing  was    becoming    more    profitable. 
There  was  a  tendency  to  the  formation  of  great  sheep  farms, 
and  land  was  being  turned  from  tillage  to  pasture.    As  the 
land   became   increasingly  valuable,  the   commons   were 
Open  field,  the  enclosed,  and  the  open  fields,  the  arable  lands  tilled  by  the 
eariy^om-         villagers,  were  not  infrequently  seized  by  the  lord  under  a 
was  divided8'     strained  interpretation  of  his  proprietary  right.     Evictions 
half-acre0         became  frequent,  houses,  whole  villages  even,  being  torn 
tenant  cuiti-      down  and  the  fields  turned  into  sheep-walks.    "  All  the 
her  of  such        houses  of  Burton  Lazars  in  the  same  vill  (Choysell)  are 
laid  waste,  and  the  inhabitants  have  departed  ;  and  there 
"  belonged  to  the  same  houses  three  hundred  acres  of  land, 


whereof  forty  are  plowed,  but  the  rest  are  in  pasture  ;  and 
by  the  downfall,  the  church  has  fallen  into  ruins."  These 
changes  entailed  grievous  suffering  upon  the  cottagers  and 
small  farmers.  Bents  rose,  and  at  the  same  time  the  rights 
of  common  pasture  were  cut  off.  Moreover,  work  became 
scarce,  for  one  man  was  now  employed  where  formerly  the 
labor  of  many  was  required.  "  For  whereas,"  wrote  Lati- 
mer  "have  been  a  great  many  householders  and  inhabi- 
tants there  is  now  but  a  shepherd  and  his  dog."  The 
small  holders  were  ruined,  many  of  them  becoming  home- 
less wanderers  swelling  the  ranks  of  paupers  and  vaga- 
bonds. Sir  Thomas  More,  in  his  Utopia,  voices  the  popular 
grievance  :  "  Sheep,"  he  wrote,  "  become  so  great  devourers 
and  so  wild  that  they  eat  up  and  swallow  down  the  very 
men  themselves.  They  consume,  destroy,  and  devour 
whole  fields,  houses,  and  citizens."  The  government 
recognized  the  evil  and  strove  to  meet  it  by  legislation. 
It  decreed  that  no  man  should  keep  more  than  two  thou- 
sand sheep,  and  at  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  it  was 
enacted  that  the  new  owners  should  "  occupy  yearly  as 
much  of  the  same  demesnes  in  plowing  and  tillage  of  hus- 
bandry ...  as  hath  been  commonly  used."  Legisla- 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation.  189 

tion  availed  little,  however,  and  the  evil  continued  until 
the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign. 

Side  by  side  with  laws  which  point  to  the  miserable  con-  Manufactures, 
dition  of  the  country  people,  are  others  that  would  seem  to 
indicate  the  decay  of  industry  and  trade  and  the  impover- 
ishment of  the  towns.  Many  of  the  towns  lost  in  popula- 
tion and  wealth  during  this  period.  This  was  due  chiefly 
to  the  ill-judged  interference  of  the  gilds  which  drove  new 
enterprises  into  the  country.  The  usefulness  of  the  gild 
system  was  gone  ;  it  no  longer  served  its  original  purpose, 
and  the  gilds  themselves  had  become  narrow  corporations. 
Membership  was  restricted  to  the  sons  of  members  or  to 
those  who  could  pay  heavily  for  the  privilege,  and  it  was 
no  longer  possible  for  the  average  journeyman  to  become  a 
master  craftsman.  The  antiquated  regulations  of  the  gilds 
were  inconsistent  with  the  increasing  activity  of  trade,  and 
the  government  tended  more  and  more  to  transfer  their 
functions  to  the  municipal  authorities.  Freed  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  a  system  which  was  outgrown,  manufactures 
took  a  vigorous  start.  The  making  of  woolens  became  an 
important  element  of  national  wealth.  The  eastern  counties 
were  noted  for  their  worsteds  and 
fine  cloths,  and  even  the  back- 
ward north  felt  the  effect  of  the 
new  interest,  and  developed  its 
own  special  line  of  friezes  and 
rough  goods.  The  government 
endeavored  in  every  way  to  pro- 
mote a  growth  so  favorable  to 

national  prosperity.  The  export  civil  Costume  of  the  Reign 
of  materials  that  might  be  man-  of  Henry  VII. 

ufactured  at  home  was  forbidden,  and  the  consumption  of 
English  goods  was  decreed  by  statute.  "  On  every  Sunday 
and  holy  day  every  person  of  six  years  old  and  upwards, 


190  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

with  some  few  exceptions,  was  to  wear  on  his  head  one 
cap  of  wool  fully  wrought  in  England."  The  manufactur- 
ing interest  owed  less,  however,  to  legislation  than  to  the 
steady  hospitality  which  the  government  extended  to  the 
persecuted  of  other  lands.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII.  an  immigration  of  religious  refugees  began 
which  continued  until  after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes,  a  century  and  a  half  later.  Most  of  those  who  came 
were  skilled  workmen,  and  they  enriched  the  country  with 
many  new  manufactures.  As  early  as  1544  Flemings  and 
Walloons  swarmed  into  England  and  established  at  Nor- 
wich the  silk  industry,  the  source  of  its  later  prosperity. 
At  the  fall  of  Antwerp,  one  third  of  the  merchants  and 
manufacturers  of  the  city  came  to  London  and  laid  the 
foundations  of  its  commercial  greatness.  Sometimes  the 
immigration  was  opposed  by  the  jealousy  of  the  natives, 
but  as  a  rule  its  value  was  recognized,  and  towns  are  found 
petitioning  to  have  strangers  allotted  them. 

Commerce  ^ne  Srowth  of  manufactures,  coupled  with  the  protective 

policy  of  the  government,  might  have  resulted  in  isola- 
tion had  it  not  been  for  the  expansion  of  commerce  which 
marked  the  close  of  the  century.  Under  Henry  VII. 
England  had  no  navy,  and  but  little  commerce  of  her  own. 
Her  sea-going  population  showed  nothing  of  a  spirit  of 
enterprise  and  adventure,  and  England's  share  in  the 
discovery  of  the  New  World  was  but  insignificant.  Even 
a  hundred  years  later  a  navy  scarcely  existed.  It  is  true 
that  Wolsey  and  Henry  VIII.  paid  some  attention  to  its 
development,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth a  statute  was  passed  making  the  eating  of  flesh  on 
Friday  and  Saturday  a  misdemeanor,  for  the  "increase  of 
fishermen  and  mariners."  The  government  saw  in  the 
fisheries  the  best  school  for  seamanship.  Elizabeth,  how- 
ever, was  content  to  commit  the  defense  of  the  country 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation.  191 

to  private  enterprise,  and  of  the  vessels  that  went  out  to 
meet  the  Armada,  only  about  thirty  belonged  to  the  State. 
Nor  did  legitimate  commerce  nourish.  In  1573  the  burden 
of  all  the  ships  engaged  in  ordinary  trade  was  less  than 
fifty  thousand  tons.  It  was  in  privateering  that  the  love  of 
adventure  and  the  desire  for  gain,  which  marked  the  mari- 
ners of  the  Elizabethan  period,  found  vent.  Great  as  were 
the  risks  involved,  the  returns  were  even  greater.  Moreover, 
England's  rival  on  the  sea  was  Spain,  and  patriotism  and  The  sea  dogs, 
religious  fervor  combined  to  give  these  buccaneering  raids 
something  of  the  character  of  a  crusade.  While  the 
two  governments  were  still  formally  at  peace,  Spanish  and 
English  sailors  were  fighting  on  every  sea,  and  politic  as 
might  be  Elizabeth's  regrets  for  the  depredations  committed 
by  her  subjects,  she  was  too  wise  to  interfere  with  enterprises 
that  increased  the  national  wealth  and  insured  the  national 
defense.  Unchecked,  therefore,  by  the  government,  this 
irregular  commerce  flourished  and  became  a  favorite  invest- 
ment for  capital.  Still  more  directly  supported  by  the  crown 
were  the  merchant  companies  chartered  to  have  exclusive 
control  of  the  commerce  of  different  lauds.  Monopolies  of 
local  trade  were  felt  to  be  a  serious  grievance  and  were  con- 
stantly protested  against,  but  in  foreign  lands  they  were  a 
necessary  means  of  defense  for  the  trader.  The  most  im- 
portant of  these  associations  was  the  East  India  Company, 
which  was  incorporated  in  1600  for  the  purpose  of  obtain- 
ing a  share  in  the  trade  of  the  east. 

It  was  to  be  expected  that  the  overturning  of  industrial  pauperism, 
conditions  would  for  a  time  affect  disastrously  the  working 
classes,  and  the  marked  increase  in  pauperism  during  the 
century  is  therefore  not  surprising.  The  main  cause  of  the 
evil  was  to  be  found  in  the  agricultural  changes.  The 
difficulty  of  the  situation  was  aggravated,  however,  by 
the  rise  in  prices,  due  to  the  influx  of  silver  from  America. 


192  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

Moreover,  the  decay  of  husbandry  had  resulted  in  scarcity 
of  food.  In  words  that  call  to  mind  our  own  times, 
More  describes  the  condition  of  those  evicted  to  make 
room  for  sheep.  "By  one  means  or  other  .  .  .  they 
must  needs  depart  away.  .  .  .  All  their  household 
stuff  .  .  .  being  suddenly  thrust  out,  they  be  con- 
strained to  sell  it  for  a  thing  of  naught.  And  when 
they  have  wandered  abroad  till  that  be  spent,  what 
can  they  else  do  but  steal,  or  else  go  about  a-begging?" 
Then  as  now,  side  by  side  with  the  helpless  poor  were 
found  the  worthless  and  lazy.  Complaints  were  frequent 
of  the  "  sturdy  beggars,"  forerunners  of  the  modern  tramp, 
who  swarmed  over  the  country,  terrorizing  the  rural  dis- 
tricts. A  contemporary  wrote  of  them  :  "If  they  ask  at 
a  ...  farmer's  house  his  charity,  they  will  go  strong 
as  three  or  four  in  a  company,  where  for  fear  more  than 
good  will  they  often  have  relief."  At  first  there  was  no 
systematic  attempt  to  face  the  situation.  Relief  of  the 
poor  was  originally  a  function  of  the  Church,  especially  of 
the  monasteries,  but  with  time  the  obligation  was  either 
lost  sight  of,  or  aid  was  so  unwisely  given  that  it  was  said 
"the  abbeys  did  but  maintain  the  poor  they  made."  It 
was  impossible,  however,  that  a  government  so  paternal  as 
the  Tudors  should  not  endeavor  to  meet  the  growing  evil, 
and  step  by  step,  by  means  of  a  long  series  of  experiments, 
an  elaborate  system  of  poor  relief  was  worked  out.  The 
obligation  of  the  State  in  the  care  of  the  poor  was  fully 
recognized,  and  what  was  formerly  a  religious  duty  to  be 
enforced  by  the  Church  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  public 
charge  to  be  met  by  a  regular  assessment  on  property  by 
the  civil  authorities.  The  principle  of  local  responsibility 
was  soon  established,  each  parish  being  bound  to  care  for  its 
own  poor.  Gradually  the  proper  distinction  between  pau- 
pers and  vagabonds  was  worked  out,  houses  of  correction 


The  Tudor s  and  the  Reformation. 


193 


being  erected  for  the  lazy  and  vicious,  while  suitable  relief 
was  given  to  the  helpless  poor,  children  being  usually  ap- 
prenticed to  a  trade.  Some  effort  was  also  made  to  provide 
work  for  able-bodied  paupers,  and  the  county  authorities 
were  empowered  to  lay  in  a  stock  of  hemp,  wool,  iron,  and 
other  materials  "  to  the  intent  that  youth  may  be  brought 
up  in  labor,  .  .  .  also  that  rogues  may  not  have  any 
just  excuse  in  saying  they  cannot  get  any  service  or  work, 
.  .  .  and  that  other  needy  persons  being  willing  to  work 
may  be  set  on  work."  In  1601  the  long  series  of  statutes 
culminated  in  the  great  poor  law  of  Elizabeth,  an  elabora- 
tion of  the  principles  and  machinery  already  recognized. 
This  in  its  main  provisions  remained  the  basis  of  the  Eng- 
lish system  of  poor  relief  until  the  eighteenth  century. 

Extremes  met  in  the  sixteenth  century ;  the  growth  in   social 
luxury  and  extravagance  was  as  marked  as  the  increase  in 
pauperism.    Everywhere  were  visible  new  conceptions  of 
comfort,  increased  attention  to  display.    The  gloomy,  for- 
tress-like dwellings   of   the    nobility  gave  place    to    the 
Elizabethan  manor  house  with  its  wide  portals  and  long 
lines  of  windows.    In  the  towns, 
the  growing  wealth  of  the  mer- 
chant class  was  indicated  in  the 
appearance  of  much  finer  resi- 
dences,  and   throughout  the 
country  generally  wooden  houses 
were   replaced  by  dwellings   of 
brick  or  stone.    A  contemporary 
writer    in    speaking    of    the 
changed  manner  of  living  notes 

"the  multitude  of  chimnies  latilie  erected"  ;  "the  great 
amendment  of  lodging";  "the  exchange  of  vessels,  as 
of  woodden  platters  into  pewter,  and  woodden  spoons 
into  silver  or  tin."  Increased  gorgeousness  of  attire  was 


Ladies  of  Quality. 


194  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

as  marked  as  the  improvement  in  house  furnishing.  Men 
"wore  a  manor  on  their  backs."  The  Englishmen's  love 
of  feasting  had  always  been  noticeable.  A  Spaniard,  writ- 
ing in  the  time  of  Mary,  said  of  them,  "they  fare  com- 
monly as  well  as  the  king,"  but  even  in  this  regard  there 
was  increased  expenditure.  This  spread  of  luxury  was 
viewed  by  many  with  dismay.  "  England  spendeth  more 
on  wines  in  one  year  than  it  did  in  ancient  times  in  four 
years,"  was  the  complaint  of  a  royal  minister.  One  writer 
laments  "the  over  quantity  of  unnecessary  wares  brought 
into  the  port  of  London."  Numerous  sumptuary  laws  were 
passed,  with,  however,  but  little  effect. 

Literature  ^e  vig°rous  ljfe  an(l  restless  activity  which  stirred  the 

material  world  was  reflected  in  the  world  of  letters.  The 
Renaissance,  the  great  intellectual  movement  that  origi- 
nated in  Italy  in  the  fifteenth  century,  was  slow  in  reaching 
England.  While  continental  Europe  was  reading  with 
avidity  the  stores  of  classic  literature,  brought  to  its  shores 
by  the  Greek  scholars  driven  from  the  East  at  the  fall  of 
Constantinople,  England  was  torn  asunder  by  the  contend- 
ing factions  of  the  Roses.  With  the  restoration  of  peace, 
however,  Englishmen  caught  the  impulse  of  the  new  move- 
ment, and  turned  with  eager  enthusiasm  and  untrammeled 
zeal  to  the  study  of  classic  lore,  and  the  investigation 
of  the  wonders  in  the  world  of  nature.  The  English 
Renaissance  received  its  impulse  from  abroad,  but  it  at 
once  assumed  a  tone  all  its  own,  "less  literary,  less  largely 
human,  but  more  moral,  more  religious,  more  practical  in 
its  bearings  both  upon  society  and  politics."  In  the  life 
and  work  of  three  men,  Colet,  Erasmus,  and  More,  its  di- 
verse aspects  found  expression.  In  Colet  was  typified  the 
religious  rationalism  of  the  new  movement ;  Erasmus  re- 
flected its  more  purely  intellectual  character ;  while  in  More 
all  its  freshness  and  audacity  of  thought  were  brought  to 


The  Tudors  and  the  Reformation.  195 

bear  on  the  practical  questions  of  the  day.  His  famous 
work,  Utopia,  was  a  satire  on  the  defects  of  English  society 
brought  out  in  a  description  of  the  condition  of  life  in 
"  Nowhere."  In  his  views  More  was  strangely  at  odds 
with  the  tendencies  of  his  age ;  he  anticipated,  however, 
the  most  important  social  and  political  reforms  of  later 
times. 

The  promise  of  the  Renaissance  was  great,  but  before  it 
had  reached  fulfilment  it  was  overwhelmed  by  the  fierce  tide 
of  religious  revolution.  Reason  and  reform  were  trampled 
under  foot  by  dogma  and  fanaticism.  It  was  not  until  the 
settlement  of  the  religious  question  under  Elizabeth  left 
men  free  to  consider  other  things,  that  the  earlier  revival  of 
letters  bore  fruit  in  the  wonderful  outburst  of  literary 
activity  which  marked  the  close  of  the  century.  The  vigor 
of  the  national  life  was  reflected  in  the  originality  of 
thought,  the  boldness  of  conception  that  characterized  the 
world  of  letters.  Its  restless  curiosity,  the  many-sidedness 
of  its  interests,  found  expression  in  a  literature  which  in- 
included  the  "Novum  Organum"  of  Bacon,  and  the 
"Ecclesiastical  Polity"  of  Hooker,  Spenser's  "Faerie 
Queene,"  and  Shakespeare's  "Hamlet." 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

THE  STUARTS  AND  PURITANISM. 


Illustrative  Readings. 

Three  English  Statesmen  ;  Gold- 
win  Smith. 

Woodstock  ;  Scott. 

Old  Mortality  ;  Scott. 

John  Inglesant  ;  Shorthouse. 

Lorna  Doone  ;  Blackmore. 

Important  Dates. 

Reign  of  James  I.,  1603-1625. 

1604,  Hampton  Court  Conference. 

1621,  Fall  of  Bacon. 
Reign  of  Charles  I.,  1625-1649. 

1626,  Impeachment   of   Bucking- 
ham. 

1628,  Petition  of  Right. 

1637,  Ship  money  decision. 

1639,  War  with  Scotland. 

1640,  Short  Parliament. 

1640,  Long  Parliament. 

1641,  Execution  of  Straflbrd. 
1641,  Grand  Remonstrance. 
1643,  League  with  Scotland. 

Genealogical  Table. 


1644,  Marston  Moor. 

1645,  Naseby. 

1649,  Execution  of  Charles. 
Commonwealth,  1649-1660. 
1653,  Dissolution  of  Long   Parlia- 
ment. 

1653,  Barebone's  Parliament. 

1654,  First  Protectorate  Parliament. 
1656,  Second  Protectorate  Parlia- 

ment. 

1658,  Death  of  Cromwell. 
Reign  of  Charles  II.,  1660-1685. 

1661,  Cavalier  Parliament. 

1665,  Dutch  War. 

1667,  Fall  of  Clarendon. 

1670,  Treaty  of  Dover. 

1678,  Popish  Plot. 
Reign  of  James  II.,  1685-1689. 

1687,  First   Declaration  of  Indul- 
gence. 

1688,  Acquittal  of  Seven  Bishops. 

1688,  Landing  of  William. 

1689,  Crown  accepted  by  William. 


JAMES  I.,  1603-1625,  m.  Anne  of  Denmark. 


Charles  I., 
1625-1649, 
m.  Henrietta 
Maria  of 
France. 

Elizabeth, 
m.  Frederick  V., 
Elector 
Palatine. 

1. 

Mary, 

m.  William  II., 
Prince  of  Orange. 


Charles  II., 

(nominally) 

1649-1660, 

(actually) 

1660-1685, 

m.  Catherine 

of  Braganza.  William  III.,  m.  Mary  II., 

Prince  of        1689-1694. 

Orange,  King  of 

Great  Britain 

and  Ireland, 

1689-1702. 


196 


James  II., 
1685-1689, 


Sophia. 

George  I., 

1714-1727. 


-, 
.  (1)  Anne  Hyde, 

m.  (2)  Mary  of  Modena. 


—  i 

Anne, 
1702-1714.  , 

Pretender.) 

Charles  Edward. 
(The  Young 
Pretender.) 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism.  197 

OPPRESSION  AND  REBELLION. 

THE  accession  of  the  House  of  Stuart  marked  the  close  of 
a  century  of  personal  rule  based  on  public  opinion,  and  the 
opening  of  a  century  of  conflict  between  Crown  and  Parlia- 
ment for  supremacy.  Under  the  Tudors,  royal  will  and 
national  interest  were  in  the  main  identical,  but  the 
Stuarts,  with  complete  disregard  of  popular  feeling,  strove  to 
set  their  wishes  against  the  nation.  Moreover,  as  if  to 
force  a  decision  which  Tudor  tact  had  avoided,  they  were 
not  content  with  the  substance  of  power,  but  insisted  upon 
its  formal  recognition,  maintaining  in  all  its  boldness  the 
doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  kings.  Popular  temper 
could  ill  brook  such  assumptions.  The  nation  had  acqui- 
esced in  the  Tudor  despotism  because  it  saw  in  the  royal 
authority  the  only  means  for  securing  peace  and  for  carry- 
ing on  the  struggle  with  the  papacy  and  Spain.  But  the 
times  had  changed.  Imbued  with  a  new  spirit  of  independ- 
ence born  of  Protestantism,  the  nation  was  preparing  to 
claim  for  itself  a  larger  share  in  the  control  of  the  govern- 
ment. Royal  assumptions  were  met  by  popular  claims,  an 
aggressive  king  was  matched  by  an  aggressive  Parliament. 
There  was  nothing  in  James  I.  to  make  the  new  preten-  james  i. 
sions  more  acceptable  to  the  nation.  His  unattractive  ex-  l!  ~1625' 
terior  and  undignified  bearing  were  in  sharp  contrast  to  the 
royal  carriage  of  his  predecessor,  and  his  shrewd  sense  and 
ready  wit  could  not  make  amends  for  the  coarseness  of  his 
uncouth  speech.  The  national  sense  of  decency  was  shocked 
by  the  grossness  and  unveiled  immorality  of  the  court,  and 
national  pride  was  outraged  at  the  elevation  of  low-born 
and  worthless  favorites  above  the  greatest  of  the  nobility. 

With  views  so  irreconcilable,  a  conflict  between  the  king 
and  the  nation  was  sure  to  come.  The  question  was  made 
more  complicated,  however,  and  the  issue  forced  by  the 
antagonism  between  king  and  people  in  religious  matters. 


198  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

A  large  minority,  at  least,  of  the  English  people,  were 
Puritans,  impatient  of  authority,  regardless  of  tradition, 
and  desirous  of  reform.    This  was  the  time  of  England's 
real  Reformation.    The  movement  of  the  sixteenth  century 
was  more  royal  than  popular,  more  political  than  religious. 
Puritanism,  the  religious  movement  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  struck  far  deeper  into  the  national  life,  not  merely 
modifying  men's  ecclesiastical  opinions,  but  stirring  and 
transforming  their  spiritual  natures.    The  Puritans  had 
hoped  much  from  James,  but  the  logical  outcome  of  his 
high  ideas  of  royal  prerogative  was  hostility  to  independ- 
ence of  thought  in  religious  questions.    A  conference  on 
ecclesiastical   matters,  called   by   the   king   at   Hampton 
Court,  revealed  the  fact  that  the  weight  of  his  influence 
would  be  on  the  side  of  the  High 
Church  party.    To  others  all  free- 
dom of  action  was  denied.    "  I  will 
\  make  them  conform,"  he  said  of 
the  Puritans,  "or  I  will  harry  them 
out   of  the   land."     Although  no 
friend  to  the  Puritans,  James  had 
little  mind  to  favor  the  Catholics, 
and  the  penal  laws  of  Elizabeth's 
reign  were  strictly  enforced.    Har- 

JamestheSixth  of  Scotland  assed  and  irritated,  some  of  the 
and  First  of  England.  Cath6iiCs  entered  into  a  conspir- 
acy, the  so-called  Gunpowder  Plot,  to  destroy  king  and 

Gunpowder  _,  . 

Plot.  1604-1605.   Parliament.    Their  plans,  however,  came  to  naught.    The 

Managed  by 

Guy  Fawkes.  disappointment  of  the  Puritans  found  a  more  legitimate 
expression  in  the  House  of  Commons,  where  they  formed  a 
strong  element,  and  the  king  met  with  much  annoying 
opposition.  Thus,  within  a  twelvemonth  of  his  accession 
to  the  throne,  the  lack  of  harmony  between  the  king  and 
the  nation  had  been  laid  bare. 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism.  199 

The  first  year  was  typical  of  the  whole  reign.  The  king's 
policy  outraged  every  popular  instinct,  frustrated  every 
popular  wish.  Government  by  statesmen  was  replaced  by 
the  rule  of  favorites,  chief  among  whom  was  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  whose  only  claim  was  his  beauty  and  grace- 
ful manners.  Wastefulness  and  imbecility  characterized 
every  department  of  the  administration.  James'  unvary- 
ing purpose  was  to  free  himself  from  all  control,  but  his 
financial  difficulties  placed  him  at  the  mercy  of  the  Com- 
mons, and  each  appeal  for  help  was  met  by  a  demand  for 
redress  of  grievances.  Remonstrances  were  met  by  the 
dissolution  of  Parliament,  and  from  1614  to  1621  the  king 
ruled  without  its  aid.  To  fill  his  empty  treasury  he  had 
recourse  to  many  expedients  ;  ancient  feudal  dues  were 
revived,  titles  were  sold,  and  customs  were  levied  by 
proclamation,  a  practice  against  which  the  Commons  had 
twice  vigorously  protested.  The  revival  of  monopolies  was 
a  serious  evil  and  served  to  arouse  the  nation  without  add- 
ing to  the  revenue  of  the  government. 

James'  home  and  foreign  policy  were  closely  connected. 
To  make  himself  independent  of  Parliament  it  was  neces- 
sary to  maintain  peace  abroad.  Moreover,  he  felt  his 
ability  did  not  lie  in  war.  Proud  of  his  statecraft,  he  hoped 
to  maintain  quiet  on  the  Continent  by  an  alliance  with 
Spain,  and  proposed  the  marriage  of  his  son  with  the 
Spanish  Infanta.  There  was  something  to  be  said  in  favor 
of  the  king's  policy,  but  events  rendered  it  impracticable. 
In  1618  the  long  impending  struggle  between  Catholics  Thlrty  years 
and  Protestants  broke  out  in  Germany.  James'  own  son-  War- 
in-law,  the  Count  Palatine,  was  involved,  and  it  was  im- 
possible for  England  to  stand  aloof.  The  king  still  strove 
to  play  the  part  of  peacemaker,  but  the  nation  detested  the 
Spanish  alliance,  and  was  eager  for  war.  In  this  crisis  it 
was  necessary  to  summon  Parliament,  and  at  once  the 


200  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

storm  broke  loose.  The  ancient  right  of  impeachment 
was  revived  against  the  royal  ministers.  Lord  Bacon,  the 
chancellor,  was  attacked  partly  for  taking  bribes,  but 
partly  for  his  support  of  the  prerogative ;  protests  were 
made  against  the  Catholic  alliance,  and  a  declaration 
of  war  against  Spain  was  demanded.  The  temper  of  the 
Commons  was  rising,  and  a  proclamation  forbidding  all 
consideration  of  foreign  affairs  was  met  by  a  resolution 
that  the  privilege  of  discussing  these  matters  was  theirs  by 
right  as  English  subjects.  The  king  with  his  own  hand 
tore  the  resolution  from  the  journals  of  the  House.  "  I 
will  govern  according  to  the  common  weal,  but  not  accord- 
ing to  the  common  will,"  he  said,  and  ordered  the  dissolu- 
tion of  Parliament.  No  words,  however,  could  annul  what 
had  been  done.  In  twenty  years  James  had  turned  respect 
for  the  monarchy  into  contempt,  loyalty  into  hatred.  He 
had  insulted  Parliament  and  asserted  his  authority  as  no 
Tudor  had  ever  done,  but  in  spite  of  his  efforts,  rather 
because  of  them,  the  constitutional  gains  of  his  reign  out- 
weighed all  that  had  been  achieved  since  the  fall  of  the 
House  of  Lancaster. 

Charles  i.  Men  hoped  much  from  the  accession  of  Charles  I.    The 

dignity  of  his  bearing  and  the  decorum  of  his  life  had 
created  a  favorable  impression,  and  his  known  hostility  to 
the  Spanish  alliance  aroused  the  expectation  of  a  more 
popular  rule.  His  government,  however,  was  no  improve- 
ment on  the  preceding.  The  king's  opposition  to  Spain 
was  the  result  of  pique,  and  did  not  imply  an  essential 
change  of  policy.  On  the  other  hand,  he  believed  as 
strongly  as  James  in  the  royal  prerogative,  and  had  even 
less  comprehension  of  the  popular  temper.  The  enthu- 
siasm with  which  his  accession  was  greeted  soon  cooled. 
His  marriage  with  a  French  princess  and  a  fancied  leaning 
toward  Rome  aroused  fears  of  a  Catholic  reaction,  while 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism.  201 

the  continued  influence  of  Buckingham  left  little  hope  of 
more  capable  action  abroad,  or  more  constitutional  rule  at 
home.  Parliament  at  once  took  a  suspicious  attitude,  re- 
fusing to  grant  supplies  until  grievances  were  redressed. 
Buckingham  was  looked  upon  as  the  cause  of  all  difficul- 
ties, and  at  length  the  Commons,  despite  the  command  of 
the  king,  proceeded  to  his  impeachment.  To  save  his 
friend,  Charles  at  once  dissolved  Parliament,  and  for  the 
next  two  years  he  tried  what  he  could  do  without  one. 
Everywhere  the  arbitrary  tendencies  of  the  government 
were  apparent.  All  sorts  of  illegal  means  were  employed 
to  fill  the  treasury.  The  courts  of  justice  were  made  in- 
struments of  the  royal  tyranny.  The  collection  of  a  forced 
loan  was  ordered  and  those  who  resisted  were  imprisoned 
at  the  king's  pleasure.  A  foolish  foreign  policy  involved 
England  in  war  with  both  France  and  Spain,  drained  the 
resources  of  the  country  and  brought  the  government  little 
credit. 

In  1628  Charles  was  driven  by  his  necessities  to  call  a  new 
Parliament.  The  Houses  met  in  no  favorable  temper,  and 
at  once  proceeded  to  discuss  the  condition  of  the  country. 

All  men  were  stirred  by  the  recent  attacks  on  personal 
rights.  "We  must  vindicate  our  ancient  liberties,"  said 

Sir  Thomas  Wentworth  in  words  to  which  his  later 
career  lent  strange  meaning,  "  we  must  reenforce  the  laws 
made  by  our  ancestors.  We  must  set  such  a  stamp  upon 
them  as  no  licentious  spirit  shall  dare  hereafter  to  invade 

them."    Discussion  ended  in  the  drawing  up  the  Petition  Petition  of 

Right, 
of  Right,  second  only  to  Magna  Charta  in  constitutional 

importance.    The  right  of  all  men  to  a  fair  and  speedv  "Old  South 

J    Leaflets,"  Gen- 
trial  was  asserted,  martial  law  was  prohibited  in  time  of  erai  series, 

X  o.  23. 

peace,  and  the  control  of  Parliament  in  all  matters  of  taxa- 
tion was  reaffirmed.  Charles  was  forced  to  agree  to  the  de- 

4 

mands  of  the  Commons,  but  in  his  heart  he  was  bent  on 


202  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

pursuing  his  old  course.  He  was  obliged,  however,  to  act 
henceforth  without  the  counsels  of  his  favorite,  for  a  few 
days  after  the  signing  of  the  Petition  of  Right,  Bucking- 
ham died  by  the  knife  of  the  assassin.  His  fall  brought 
no  change  of  policy;  it  but  widened  the  breach  between  the 
king  and  the  nation.  Buckingham  had  borne  the  brunt 
of  the  popular  dissatisfaction ;  Charles  was  now  forced  to 
take  the  odium  of  his  own  misdeeds. 

Personal  The  dissolution  of  the  Houses  in  1629  was  followed  by  a 

«i2!M640?nt'  period  of  personal  rule.  For  eleven  years  no  Parliament 
was  called.  "We  have  showed  by  our  frequent  meeting 
our  people  our  love  to  the  use  of  Parliament ;  yet  the  late 
abuse  having  for  the  present  driven  us  unwillingly  out 
of  that  course,  we  shall  account  it  presumption  for  any  to 
•  prescribe  any  time  unto  us  for  Parliament."  During  these 

years  the  king  governed  the  realm  through  ministers,  the 
irresponsible  agents  of  his  policy.  The  ruling  spirit  in 
secular  affairs  was  Wentworth,  once  the  champion  of 
English  liberties,  now  the  willing  servant  of  despotism. 
Political  conviction  as  well  as  personal  ambition  had  led 
him  to  forsake  the  popular  cause.  His  hostility  had  been 
directed  rather  against  the  influence  of  Buckingham  than 
against  the  power  of  the  crown.  For  the  wisdom  of  the 
people  he  had  little  respect.  He  saw  all  the  defects  of 
Parliamentary  rule,  and  none  of  its  good  points.  His 
ideal  was  the  system  of  the  Tudors,  and  his  purpose  was 
to  "make  His  Majesty  as  absolute  as  any  king  in  Christen- 
dom, and  as  little  subject  to  conditions."  In  Church 
matters  the  king's  chief  adviser  was  Archbishop  Laud. 
Unity  through  uniformity  was  the  keynote  to  Laud's 
policy.  His  favor  toward  Catholics  was  as  marked  as  his 
hostility  to  Puritans,  and  he  strove  to  enforce  conformity 
while  gradually  drawing  the  Church  nearer  to  Rome. 
With  entire  sympathy  the  two  ministers  labored  together 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism.  203 

to  carry  out  the  policy  which  they  dubbed  "Thorough."    court  of  High 
The  machinery  through  which  they  worked  was  the  Privy 
Council  and  the  Courts  of  the  Star  Chamber  and  High 


Commission.      The  press  was  muzzled,  the  pulpits  were  ecclesiastical 

11  tuned,"  the  judges  bribed  or  intimidated.     Freedom  of  mattera- 

speech  no  longer   existed,  liberty  and  property  were  en- 

dangered.   Imprisonment  and  mutilation  were  inflicted  on 

many  because  of  their  religion,  many  more  fled  to  America 

to  escape  persecution.     The  chief  difficulty  that  beset  the 

crown  was  the  need  of  raising  a  revenue.      The    royal 

forests  formed  an  important  source  of  supply,  and  by  reviv-  T^e  bounds  of 

ing  obsolete  laws  their  boundaries  were  greatly  extended, 

Exorbitant    fines    were    exacted    for   all    kinds   of  petty 

offenses.     The  sale  of  monopolies  was  carried  to  an  un-   miles< 

heard  of  extent.     "  They  sup  in  our  cup,"  it  was  later  said 

of  the  monopolists,  "  they  dip  in  our  dish,  they  sit  by  our 

fire.    .    .    .    They  have  marked  and  sealed  us  from  head 

to  foot."    To  secure  a  fixed  revenue,  a  plan  was  devised  of 

exacting  ship-money  from  all  the  counties,  nominally  for 

the  defense  of  the  country.     At  first  the  money  was  used 

according  to  the  avowed  intention,  but  the  principle  was  so 

capable  of  extension  that  Wentworth  said  of  it  :    "  Let  the 

king  only  abstain  from  war  for  three  years  that  he  may 

habituate  his  subjects  to  the  payment  of  this  tax,  and  in 

the  end  he  will  find  himself  more  powerful  and  respected 

than  any  of  his  predecessors."     The  nation  saw  this  as 

clearly  as  Wentworth.     John  Hampden,  a  gentleman  of 

Buckinghamshire,  undertook  to  bring  the  question  of  the 

legality  of  ship-money  before  the  courts  of  law.    But  the 

judges  were  tools  of  the  king,  and  the  decision  was  in  his 

favor.    One   judge  declared  that  rex  was  lex,    and  Chief 

Justice  Finch  asserted  "that  they  are  void  acts  of  Parlia- 

ment to  bind  the  king  not  to  command  the  subjects,  their 

persons  and  goods,     .      .      .for  no  acts  of  Parliament 


204 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Quarrel  with 
the  Scotch, 
1637. 


The  Short 
Parliament, 
April,  1640. 


make  any  difference."  It  was  vain  to  look  for  justice  to 
courts  guided  not  by  the  law,  but  by  the  will  of  the  king. 
Hampden's  resistance  aroused  the  people,  his  defeat 
showed  the  peril  of  the  situation.  Nevertheless  action  was 
still  delayed.  No  leader  had  come  forward,  the  intermis- 
sion of  Parliament  left  the  national  tem- 
per in  doubt,  and  many  of  the  bolder 
spirits,  despairing  of  improvement,  left 
the  country  to  seek  a  home  in  the  Puri- 
tan commonwealth  beyond  the  sea. 
But  the  stupidity  of  the  king  was  has- 
tening the  crisis.  The  signal  for  revolt 
came  from  Scotland.  The  vigorous 
Puritanism  of  the  north  had  not  been 
able  to  hinder  the  reestablishment  of 
Episcopacy,  but  the  feeling  of  the  people 
was  openly  hostile  and  it  was  evident 
that  patience  was  almost  at  an  end. 
Nevertheless,  Charles  and  Laud  deter- 
mined to  force  upon  the  Scotch  a  new 
Church  service  modeled  upon  the  English  prayer  book. 
National  pride  as  well  as  religious  feeling  was  offended 
at  this  innovation  from  England.  The  first  attempt  to 
use  the  new  liturgy  met  with  opposition  which  soon 
ripened  into  rebellion  against  the  political  authority  of 
the  king.  Charles  dared  not  draw  back,  however,  for  fear 
of  the  effect  in  England.  Unprepared  and  unsupported 
he  tried  to  face  a  united,  determined  Scotland.  Defeat 
at  length  forced  him  to  abandon  the  policy  of  the  last 
eleven  years  and  summon  Parliament.  The  Houses  came 
together  in  no  unreasonable  spirit,  but  it  was  plain  that 
grievances  must  be  redressed  before  aid  would  be  granted. 
"  Till  the  liberties  of  the  House  and  kingdom  were  cleared, 
they  knew  not  whether  they  had  anything  to  give  or  no." 


A  Countrywoman. 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism.  205 

Money,  not  debate,  was  what  Charles  wanted  and  Parlia- 
ment was  dissolved  with  nothing  accomplished.    The  des- 
perate state  of  affairs  in  Scotland  soon  forced  the  king  to  The  Long 
summon  a  second  Parliament — the  famous  Long  Parlia-  November,' 

1640 

ment  of  the  Rebellion.  The  nation's  temper  had  changed; 
men  realized  that  now  was  their  time  ;  Scotland's  cause  was 
the  cause  of  English  freedom.  Ignoring  the  king's  demand 
for  money,  the  Commons,  at  the  instance  of  Pym,  a  marked 
man  in  the  earlier  struggle  and  the  real  leader  of  Parlia- 
ment, proceeded  to  a  consideration  of  the  evils  of  the  realm. 
Wentworth,  now  Earl  of  Strafford,  was  the  first  object  of 
attack.  He  was  regarded  as  the  mainstay  of  the  royal  des- 
potism. So  long  as  he  lived  Charles  could  not  be  intrusted 
with  power.  His  condemnation  was  a  foregone  conclusion; 
a  bill  of  attainder  was  hurried  through  both  Houses,  and 
received  the  signature  of  the  king  who  a  few  days  before 
had  assured  him  that  he  should  not  suffer  in  "  life,  honor, 
or  fortune."  Strafford  paid  the  penalty  of  being  out  of 
touch  with  his  generation,  of  endeavoring  to  restore  a  con- 
stitution which  the  nation  had  outgrown. 

The  overthrow  of  Strafford  was  followed  by  an  attack  on 
the  powers  of  the  crown.  One  measure  after  another  was 
passed  limiting  the  prerogative,  and  establishing  guaran- 
tees of  constitutional  rule.  Parliament  was  to  be  sum- 
moned at  least  once  in  three  years,  the  levying  of  taxes 
without  its  consent  was  forbidden,  all  irregular  courts 
were  abolished.  So  far  as  laws  could  accomplish  it,  the 
life,  liberty,  and  property  of  the  subject  were  made  secure. 

Thus  far  the  action  of  Parliament  had  been  practically 
unanimous.  Now,  however,  division  appeared.  Some 
were  satisfied  with  what  had  been  obtained,  others  deemed 
additional  guarantees  necessary.  Discussion  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal questions  showed  that  while  all  wished  reform,  some  de- 
sired revolution,  and  would  abolish  Episcopacy  altogether. 


206 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Irish  Rebellion. 
October,  1641. 


These  differences  of  opinion  were  strengthened  by  a  revival 
of  personal  loyalty  to  the  king,  standing  helpless  and 
almost  alone.  This  was  Charles'  opportunity.  By  ally- 
ing himself  frankly  and  heartily  with  the  moderate  re- 
formers he  might  have  cut  the  ground  from  under  the  feet 
of  the  radicals.  But  Charles  was  incapable  of  straightfor- 
ward action,  of  giving  his  confidence  completely.  He 
called  to  his  counsels  Hyde  and  Falkland,  the  leaders  of 
the  Conservatives,  but  at  the  same  time  he  carried  on 


ENGLAND 

and  WALES 

December  9, 1648. 

Districts  held  by 
the  King,  shaded. 

Districts  held  bj 
Parliment,  white. 


[Adapted  from  Gardiner's  School  Atlas.} 

secret  negotiations  with  the  Scotch  and  with  the  army, 
in  the  hope  of  using  them  against  his  opponents.  An  out- 
break in  Ireland  complicated  the  situation.  An  army 
would  be  necessary  to  put  down  the  rebellion.  Could  the 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism.  207 

king  be  trusted  with  forces  which  he  might  turn  against 

Parliament?    Pym  and  Hampden  answered  no.    Under   GrandRemon. 

their  leadership  the  Grand  Remonstrance,  a  statement  of 

grievances,  a  program  for  the  future,  an    appeal  to  the 

people,  was  fought  through  Parliament.     This  was  the   No-24- 

crisis  of  the  contest.    Failure  to  pass  the  Grand  Remon- 

strance would  have  meant  to  many  the  abandonment  of 

the  struggle.     "  Had  it  been  defeated,"  said  Oliver  Crom- 

well, member  for   Cambridge,   "  I  would   have   sold   to- 

morrow all  I  possess  and  left  England  forever."    Success 

completed  the  division  of  the   nation  into  two  parties. 

Lack  of  confidence  in  the  king  had  forced  men  to  ex- 

tremes.   Their  violence  now  led  to  the  formation  of  a  royal 

party.    It  was  plain  that  war  could  not  long  be  delayed. 

A  few  weeks  later  Charles  left  London,  never  to  return 

until  brought  back  a  prisoner. 

The  royal  standard  was  raised  at  Nottingham,  Parlia- 
ment called  out  the  national  militia,  the  country  ranged  ** 


itself  on  one  side  or  the  other.     With  the  king  were  most  of 

the  nobility,  many  of  the  gentry,  the  High  Church  party  ; 

the  border  counties,  also,  were  royalist  in  sympathy.    A 

few  of  the  upper  classes  supported  Parliament,  but  the 

strength  of   the  Roundhead  cause  lay  with  the    towns-  "Roundhead, 

people   and  yeomanry.      For    a  time  the  war    dragged, 


Neither  side  desired  too  complete  a  victory.    Many  among         tans' 
Charles'  supporters  feared  he  would  use  success  to  reestab- 
lish what  had  been  overthrown.    And  some  on  the  op- 
posite side  saw  in  the  removal  of  all  restraints  a  prospect 
of  Parliamentary  despotism  which  they  liked  no  better 
than  royal  tyranny.    On  the  whole,  success  was  with  the 
king.     The  Parliamentary  recruits,  the  offscouring  of  the 
towns,  were  no  match  for  men  whose  loyalty  would  lead 
them  to  fight  for  the  crown  though  it  "  hung  in  a  bush." 
With    the  next  year  Parliament  began  to  retrieve  its  1643. 


208  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

position  despite  the  loss  it  suffered  in  the  death  of  Pym,  its 
great  leader.  His  last  act  had  been  to  secure  the  alliance 
of  the  Scotch  by  inducing  Parliament  to  accept  the 

The  Covenant.     Covenant  and  establish  Presbyterianism.     In  the  hands  of 

"Old  South 

Leaflets,"  Gen-  Oliver  Cromwell,  now  the  guiding  spirit  in  military  affairs, 

No.  25.  the  army  was  completely  transformed.    Cromwell  was  the 

first  to  point  out  the  defect  of  the  Parliamentary  forces  and 
to  indicate  the  remedy.  "  You  must  get  men  of  a  spirit 
that  is  likely  to  go  on  as  far  as  gentlemen  will  go."  "  Men 
of  religion  are  wanted  to  withstand  these  gentlemen  of 
honor."  Cavalier  loyalty  was  to  be  matched  by  spiritual 
zeal.  None  were  received  into  the  "New  Model,"  as  the 
reformed  army  was  called,  save  those  of  sober  Christian 
life,  but  all  who  could  fight  and  pray  were  made  welcome 
regardless  of  class  or  sect.  Parliament  was  dominated  by 
the  Presbyterian  party,  but  among  Cromwell's  Ironsides 
was  a  spirit  of  toleration  elsewhere  unknown.  Such  an 
army  was  never  before  seen.  It  was  made  up  not  of  adven- 
turers and  mercenaries,  but  of  yeomen  and  tradespeople. 
The  citizen  was  never  lost  in  the  soldier,  each  man  knew 
for  what  he  was  fighting ;  the  end  once  attained  he  was 
eager  to  return  to  his  home  and  calling.  Such  forces  were 
irresistible.  Royalist  defeat  at  Marston  Moor  was  fol- 
lowed by  royalist  rout  on  the  field  of  Naseby. 

Charles  was  hopelessly  beaten  in  war,  but  his  cause  was 
not  yet  lost.  In  the  diverse  opinions  of  his  foes  lay  a  way 
of  escape.  Parliament  seemed  more  desirous  of  ridding 
itself  of  the  army  with  its  detestable  ideas  of  toleration 
than  of  completing  the  overthrow  of  the  king.  The  Scots 
were  ready  to  furnish  Charles  with  a  sufficient  force  pro- 
vided he  would  acknowledge  Presbyterianism  and  suppress 
Independency.  Cromwell  and  his  men  wished  to  restrain 
both  crown  and  Parliament  in  the  interest  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberty.  The  battle  of  Naseby,  in  fact,  marked 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism.  209 

the  close  of  the  civil  war,  and  the  beginning  of  a  greater 
struggle,  a  struggle  between  conformity  and  freedom, 
progress  and  conservatism.  On  the  one  hand  stood  the 
army,  on  the  other  Parliament  and  the  Scots.  Each  of  the 
opposing  forces  was  ready  to  make  terms  with  the  king. 
Parliament  insisted  on  the  establishment  of  Presbyterian- 
ism  and  the  control  of  military  forces  for  twenty  years. 
The  proposals  of  the  army  were  more  moderate.  "  We  de- 
sire no  alteration  in  the  civil  government,  as  little  do  we 
desire  to  interrupt  the  settlement  of  the  Presbyterian 
government,  only  we  wish  that  every  good  citizen  and 
every  man  who  walks  peaceably  in  a  blameless  conversa- 
tion, and  is  beneficial  to  the  commonwealth,  might  have 
liberty  and  encouragement."  With  each  and  all  Charles 
carried  on  his  intrigues,  playing  off  Scots  against  English, 
army  against  Parliament.  At  length  he  was  rewarded  by  * 

seeing  two  of  his  enemies,  the  Scots  and  the  army,  come  to 
blows.  But  the  patience  of  the  Ironsides  was  exhausted. 
A  quiet  settlement  of  the  country  was  impossible  so  long  as 
Charles  was  alive.  With  swift  success  Cromwell's  forces 
overthrew  the  Scots,  and  turned  "  to  call  Charles  Stuart, 
that  man  of  blood,  to  an  account."  Through  the  forced 
expulsion  of  some  of  its  members,  the  House  became  a  septf,  I648.ree' 
mere  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  army,  and  met  the  demand 
that  the  king  be  brought  to  justice  by  appointing  a  court 
whose  character  left  no  doubt  as  to  the  result.  Charles  was 
condemned  to  death  as  a  tyrant,  traitor,  murderer.  He  met 
his  fate  like  a  hero  and  a  saint. 

"  He  nothing  common  did  nor  mean, 
Upon  that  memorable  scene." 

PURITAN  RULE. 

The  death  of  the  king  was  followed  by  the  declaration  of 

The  Common  - 
the  Commonwealth.     Monarchy  and  the  House  of  Lords  wealth. 

1649-1660. 

were  abolished,  and  their  place  was  taken  by  an  Executive 


210  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

Council  and  the  House  of  Commons.  Power,  however,  be- 
longed with  the  army  and  its  leader,  and  the  history  of  the 
next  ten  years  is  the  history  of  their  attempt  to  rule  Eng- 
land. The  difficulties  were  almost  insurmountable.  A 
government  was  to  be  organized  where  there  was  no 
agreement  as  to  principle.  The  ideals  of  Cromwell  were 
not  the  ideals  of  the  nation.  Few  cared  for  religious 
liberty,  fewer  still  for  republicanism.  To  allow  the  people 
to  have  their  way  meant  to  give  up  most  of  those  things  for 
which  he  had  contended,  and  for  that  Cromwell  was  not 
ready.  He  was  not,  however,  a  despot  by  nature.  Over 
and  over  again  he  attempted  to  secure  the  cooperation  of 
the  nation.  The  Rump,  as  the  mutilated  Long  Parliament 
was  called,  had  become  corrupt  and  unmindful  of  its  duty. 
Cromwell  went  down  to  the  House,  exasperated  by  its 
1653.  dallying.  "I  will  put  an  end  to  this,"  he  cried.  "It  is 

not  fit  you  should  sit  here  any  longer,"  and  he  bade  his 
soldiers  clear  the  hall.    He  did  not  wish  to  rule  alone,  but 
he  dared  not  appeal  to  the  nation  ;  a  representative  Parlia- 
ment would  have  been  a  royalist  Parliament.    So  he  called 
to  his  aid  an  assembly  of  "godly  men  to  rule  until  the 
people  were  fitted  to  act."    But  his  godly  men  were  vision- 
aries and  at  once  attempted  extravagant  reforms.     Crom- 
well had  too  much  common  sense  not  to  see  their  mistakes, 
Sarebone's        so  tne  Barebones  Parliament  went  the  way  of  the  Rump. 
csMeatrvm  ***  Two  more  attempts  were  made  by  Cromwell  to  establish 
Barebotief        constitutional   rule.     Under  the   Instrument  of  Govern- 
LondonF.f°r       ment,  the   first   of  written   constitutions,    a   protectorate 
was  set  up.     Later,   by  giving  the  Protector  the  right  to 
name  his  successor,  and   by  creating  a  second  House,  a 
return  was  made  to  the  forms  of  the  ancient  constitution. 
Both  attempts  failed.     There  was  no  unanimity  of  feeling  ; 
the  members  quarreled  as  to  the  authority  under  which 
they  were  come  together,  the  nation  distrusted  Cromwell 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism. 


211 


and  his  system.     Failure  forced  Cromwell  back  upon  the 
army,  the  real  mainstay  of   his  power.     But  though  his 
government  was  based  upon  force,  there  was  not  much 
violence  or  unnecessary  severity.    Provided  his  authority 
was  respected,   there  was  but  little  interference  with  in- 
dividual rights.      True,    the   Royalists  were  taxed   more 
heavily  than  others,  but  this  was  on  the 
ground  that  their  hostility  made  neces- 
sary a  large  and  costly  military  estab- 
lishment.   Toleration  was  the  principle 
and,  with  some  exceptions,  the  practice 
of  Cromwell's  government.     "  Our  prac- 
tice'   .     .     .    hath  been  to  let  all  this 
nation  see  that  whatever  pretensions  to 
religion  would  continue  quiet,  peaceable, 
they  should  enjoy  conscience  and  liberty 
to  themselves."     At  first  there  was  no 
interference  with  the  English  Church, 
but  within  a  short  time  Episcopalian 
worship   was  prohibited  as  tending  to 
stir  up  disaffection.    The  proclamation,     A  Gentlewoman, 
however,  was  not  very  rigorously  enforced,  and  zealous 
worshipers  continued  to  meet,  only  more  privately. 

Less  difficult  and  more  successfully  met  were  the  ques- 
tions of  foreign  relations.  From  the  first  Cromwell  adopted  En  land,sfor_ 
a  vigorous  policy  which  reflected  the  temper  of  the  man  ei8n  relations, 
and  the  character  of  the  times.  Religious  considerations 
as  well  as  political  interests  determined  England's  attitude. 
A  proposed  alliance  with  France  was  arrested  until  all  per- 
secution of  Protestants  had  ceased,  and  war  was  waged 
with  Spain,  in  part  at  least,  because  of  her  traditional  posi- 
tion as  the  great  Catholic  power  of  Europe.  On  the  other 
hand,  religious  sympathy  could  not  keep  peace  between 
England  and  Protestant  Holland,  her  great  rival  on  the  sea. 


212  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

Commercial  interests,  in  fact,  were  driving  religious  ques- 
tions into  the  background.  In  1651  the  Navigation  Act  was 
passed,  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  measures  intended  to 
build  up  English  commerce.  Its  provisions  forbade  the 
importation  of  goods  into  England  except  in  English  ves- 
sels, and  thus  dealt  a  blow  to  the  Dutch  carrying  trade. 
The  result  was  a  war  with  Holland  in  which  the  navy,  led 
by  Blake,  gained  many  victories  and  laid  the  foundations 
of  England's  present  maritime  supremacy.  On  land  as 
well  as  on  sea  the  English  were  successful  ;  Cromwell's  force 
and  ability  regained  for  England  the  place  in  Europe  which 
she  had  won  under  Elizabeth  and  lost  under  James. 

The  triumph  of  the  Commonwealth  abroad  filled  even 
its  opponents  with  pride.    Nor  were  grounds  for  some  con- 
Th  Lev  i   s      tentment  lacking  nearer  home.    Cromwell's  rule  was  stern, 


armrtofd  the     kut  a^  ^eas^  order  was  maintained.     All  risings  whether  of 

cratic  and          Royalists  or  Levelers  were  quickly  quelled.    Gradually  the 

denotes.  ravages  of  war  were  repaired,  although  ruined  hall  and 

mutilated  church  long  bore  testimony  to  the  destructive 

work  of  the  Ironsides.    Taxation  was  heavy,  but  industry 

was  not  crushed,  and  the  country  seemed  elastic  under  its 

burdens.    Had   Cromwell   lived    longer   he   might   have 

effected  many  improvements  in  the  condition  of  the  peo- 

ple.   Reform  of  the  law  courts  was  a  matter  that  he  had  at 

heart.    The  misrepresentation  of  the  country  under  the  ex- 

isting electoral  system  was  an  evil  which  he  recognized  and 

tried  to  meet.    He  attempted  to  equalize  representation 

according  to  population,  and  he  gave  members  to  Scotland 

and  Ireland. 

_-..  But  Cromwell's  work  was  done.    He  and  his  generation 

Death  of  Crom- 

well. 1658.  were  hopelessly  at  odds.  He  was  as  far  in  advance  of  his 
age  as  Strafford  was  behind,  and  before  him  lay  nothing 
but  vexation  and  disappointment.  Under  the  burden  of 
care  and  anxiety  his  health  gave  way.  A  storm  swept  over 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism. 


213 


England  as  he  lay  dying.    "  The  devil  is  fetching  home  the 
soul  of  the  tyrant,"  said  his  foes  ;  but  the  man  whom  they 
hated  was  praying  for  friends  and  foes  alike.    "  Lord,  Thou 
hast  made  me,  though  very  unworthy,  a 
mean  instrument  to  do  them  some  good, 
and  Thee  service  ;    and  many  of  them, 
have    set    too   high   a  value   upon   me, 
though  others  wish  and  would  be  glad  of 
my  death.    Lord,  however  Thou  do  dis- 
pose of  me,  continue  to  go  on  to  do  good 
to  them.     .     .     .    Teach  those  who  look 
too  much  on  Thy  instruments,  to  depend 
more  upon  Thyself.    Pardon  such  as  de- 
sire to  trample  upon  the  dust  of  a  poor 
worm,  for  they  are  Thy  people  too.     And 
pardon   the  folly  of   this  short  prayer ; 
even  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.     And  give    A  Citlzen's  Wife- 
us  a  good  night,  if  it  be  thy  pleasure.    Amen." 

The  days  of  the  Commonwealth  were  numbered.    Rich- 
ard Cromwell  was  made  Protector,  but  he  could  not  hope 

to  succeed  where  his  father  had  failed.    Conflict  arose  be-  _ 

Fall  of  the  Com- 
tween  the  civil  and  military  authorities.    One  Parliament    monweaith. 

was  expelled  and  another  set  up  in  its  place.  The  nation 
was  weary  of  army  rule,  and  longed  for  a  restoration  of  the 
old  order,  for  a  return  of  the  old  line.  Negotiations  were 
opened  with  the  son  of  Charles  I.,  living  in' exile.  Vague 
promises  of  good  government,  of  religious  security,  were 
eagerly  accepted.  The  army,  tricked  and  abandoned  by  its 
leaders,  could  do  nothing.  A  Convention  Parliament  was 
hastily  summoned  which  at  once  recalled  Prince  Charles, 
and  on  May  29,  1660,  he  entered  London  attended  by  re- 
joicing crowds. 

The  Puritan  rebellion  had  ended  in  apparent  failure.     In 
the  contest  against  the  despotism  of  the  second  Stuart,  Par- 


214  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

liament  and  the  nation  were  victorious,  but  religious  differ- 
ences aroused  strife  among  the  conquerors.  The  right  cause 
triumphed  with  Cromwell,  but  it  was  based  on  force  and 
found  no  response  in  the  nation.  The  result  was  the  re- 
action which  we  call  the  Restoration.  The  over-severity  of 
the  Puritans  led  to  the  shamelessness  of  society  under  the 
third  Stuart.  Toleration  at  the  point  of  the  sword  ended  in 
the  penal  code  against  dissent.  The  outcome  of  the  execu- 
tion of  Charles  was  the  doctrine  of  non-resistance.  Never- 
theless, Puritanism  was  far  from  dead.  The  spirit  that 
found  expression  in  the  writings  of  Milton  and  Bunyan 
left  an  impress  on  the  national  character  that  might  be  for 
a  time  obscured  but  never  entirely  effaced. 

THE  RESTORATION. 

Charles  H.  The  recall  of  the  Stuarts  did  not  mean  that  the  nation 

1  wished  to  undo  all  that  had  been  done  ;  the  Convention 

Parliament  contained  many  Presbyterians,  and  it  insisted 
at  first  on  a  generous  treatment  of  all  who  were  con- 
cerned in  the  Rebellion,  and  especially  that  no  one  was  to 
be  "disquieted  for  difference  of  opinion  which  should  not 
disturb  the  kingdom."  But  the  tide  of  loyalty  was  rising 
fast.  The  Parliament  called  in  1661  was  fired  with  devotion 

Declaration  of  to  Church  and  king.     Charles  was  granted  what  his  father 
passive  obedi- 
ence:  "i,  A.    never  obtained, — a  large  revenue  for  life.    It  was  declared 
B.,  do  declare 
and  beiieve       that  there  was  no  legislative  power  in  Parliament  without 

that  it  is  not 

lawful  upon       the  royal   sanction,  that  the  king  was  the  rightful   corn- 
whatever  to       mander  of  all  forces,  arid  that  it  was  unlawful  for  either 
take  up  arms 
against  the        House  to  make  war  against  the  crown. 

The  religious  zeal  of  Parliament  was  even  more  marked. 
Episcopacy  was  reestablished,  and  a  stringent  Act  of  Uni- 
formity was  passed.  From  all  clergymen  and  teachers  the 
acceptance  of  everything  in  the  Prayer  Book  was  required, 
and  as  a  result  two  thousand  ministers  were  deprived  of 
their  charges.  This  was  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  penal 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism.  215 

statutes  directed  against  dissent,  whether  Catholic  or  Prot- 
estant. Officeholders  in  the  towns  were  obliged  to  sub-  Corporation 

Act.     1661. 

scribe  to  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience,  and  to  take  the 
sacrament  according  to  the  practice  of  the  Anglican 
Church.  Religious  meetings  of  more  than  five  persons  Conventicle 

Act*      It)o4. 

outside  the  family  were  prohibited  unless  in  accordance 
with  the  established  forms.  A  third  violation  of  this 
requirement  was  punished  by  transportation.  Another 
measure  was  passed  under  conditions  of  peculiar  infamy. 
The  plague  was  raging  in  London,  and  the  clergy  had  fled 
in  a  panic.  The  Dissenters,  a  far  more  earnest  set  of  men, 
undertook  the  duties  left  unperformed,  tending  the  sick  and 
holding  services.  Parliament,  at  a  safe  distance  in  Oxford, 
where  it  had  gone  to  avoid  the  plague,  passed  the  Five-Mile 

Act,  forbidding  all  clergymen  who  had  not  accepted  the 

Five-Mile  Act. 
Act  of  Uniformity  and  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience  to  1665. 

teach  school,  or  to  come  within  five  miles  of  any  town  or 
borough. 

The  severity  of  this  legislation  against  Dissenters  was  due 
in  a  measure  to  the  influence  of  Hyde,  Earl  of  Clarendon, 
once  a  leader  in  the  Long  Parliament,  then  the  adviser  ciarendoa. 
of  Charles  I.,  now  the  chief  minister  of  his  son.  Claren- 
don's ideals  were  the  ideals  of  the  sixteenth  century  ;  an 
Episcopal  Church  dependent  upon  the  crown,  power  exer- 
cised without  restraint  by  an  enlightened  and  conscientious 
king.  He  repeated  the  mistake  of  Straffbrd  in  endeavoring 
to  make  of  a  Stuart  a  ruler  after  the  Elizabethan  type. 
Charles  II.  had  far  more  tact  and  ability  than  his  father, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  less  principle,  less  earnestness  of 
temper  ;  selfishness,  love  of  pleasure,  were  the  dominant 
notes  in  his  character.  At  the  outset  of  his  reign  he  showed 
little  ambition,  but,  surrounding  himself  with  men  of  his 
kind,  led  a  life  of  dissipation  which  made  the  court  a 
national  shame.  It  was  folly  to  expect  of  such  a  king 


216 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


War  with 

Holland. 
ltjto-1667. 


Charles  and 
France. 


wisdom  and  conscientiousness.  Inability  to  realize  this 
was  not,  however,  Clarendon's  only  mistake.  He  did  not 
see  that  the  situation  abroad  had  changed.  Alliance  with 
France  against  Spain  had  been  England's  traditional  policy 
for  more  than  two  generations.  But  the  power  of  Spain 
was  waning.  France,  under  the  ambitious  leadership  of 
Louis  XIV.,  was  now  the  menace  to  the  peace  and  freedom 
of  Europe.  Blind  to  this  change,  Clarendon  allowed  Eng- 
land to  become  involved  in  a  causeless  war  with  Holland, 
whereas  his  true  policy  should  have  been  to  establish  a 
close  alliance  between  the  two  countries  against  France. 

The  war  itself  was  bad  enough  ;  the  manner  of  conduct- 
ing it  was  inexcusable.  Money  voted  by  Parliament  for 
carrying  on  the  contest  was  squandered  by  the  king  on  his 
pleasures.  Unpaid  and  half  starved,  the  English  sailors 
mutinied,  while  the  Dutch  fleet  sailed  up  the  Thames  and 
held  London  in  terror  for  weeks.  A  storm  of  indignation 
swept  over  the  country.  An  opposition  party  was  formed 
in  Parliament  clamoring  for  Clarendon's  overthrow. 
Charles  made  little  effort  to  save  the  minister  whose  seri- 
ous life  he  felt  a  constant  restraint.  Clarendon  was 
impeached,  but  saved  himself  by  flight  to  France.  The 
crisis  resulted  in  something  more  than  the  overthrow  of 
the  minister.  In  the  revival  of  the  long  disused  right  of  im- 
peachment the  Commons  had  gained  a  powerful  weapon. 
Moreover,  the  principle  was  established  that  supplies 
should  not  be  diverted  from  the  use  for  which  they  were 
voted,  and  that  the  national  accounts  should  be  subject  to 
inspection. 

Clarendon's  fall  coincided  with  a  certain  change  in  the 
attitude  of  the  king.  It  was  not  that  he  had  become  more 
desirous  of  playing  the  despot,  but  that  he  had  learned  that 
dependence  upon  Parliament  hindered  his  freedom  to  do  as 
he  liked.  He  objected  to  interference  in  the  expenditure  of 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism. 


217 


the  court,  to  criticism  of  his  manner  of  life.    Moreover, 

although  an  avowed  skeptic,  his  sympathies  were  with 

the  Catholics,  and  he  was  sincere  in  his  wish  to  relieve 

them  from  the  oppression 

of  the   penal   laws.      For 

these  reasons  it  became  his 

purpose  henceforth  to  free 

himself  from  the  restraint 

of  Parliament.  To  gain  his 

ends,     outside     assistance 

was  necessary,  and  for  this 

he  looked  to  France.   Louis 

met  him  more  than  half 

wav.     The  result  of  their   Charles  II.  and  a  Courtier.    From  a 

Scarce  Print  by  Faithorne. 
negotiations  was  the  secret 

Treaty  of  Dover.    Louis  was  to  give  Charles  aid  in  money 

Treaty  of 
and  troops.      In  return  the  French  and  English  were  to   Dover.    1670. 

enter  into  an  alliance  against  Holland,  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  was  to  be  established  in  England. 

This  disgraceful  treaty  was  kept  a  secret  even  from  many 
of  the  royal  ministers,  but  its  effect  at  once  became  ap- 
parent. Parliament  was  prorogued,  war  was  declared 
against  Holland,  although  an  alliance  with  that  country 
had  just  been  formed,  and  a  Declaration  of  Indulgence  was 
issued  suspending  the  execution  of  the  penal  laws.  This 
was  primarily  in  the  interest  of  the  Catholics,  but  it  was 
hoped  it  might  win  over  the  Dissenters.  Its  effect,  however, 
was  just  the  reverse.  With  unusual  clear-sightedness, 
the  latter  saw  the  dangerous  possibilities  in  allowing  the 
crown  such  arbitrary  power,  and  they  were  the  first  to 
appeal  against  the  measure.  In  spite  of  the  large  sums 
received  from  France,  need  of  money  soon  forced  Charles 
to  summon  Parliament.  The  first  act  of  the  opposition,  or 
"  Country  party,"  was  to  compel  the  king  to  withdraw 


218 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Test  Act. 
1673. 


Earl  of  Danby, 
Lord  Treas- 
urer and  lead- 
ing minister. 
1673-1678. 


Popish  Plot. 

1678. 


the  Declaration.  It  next  proceeded  to  pass  the  Test  Act, 
requiring  all  who  held  any  state  office  to  take  the  sacra- 
ment according  to  the  Anglican  form,  and  to  make  a 
declaration  against  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation. 
One  privilege  after  another  was  taken  from  all  who  dis- 
sented from  the  established  Church.  In  turn  the  Church, 
the  universities,  municipal  office,  civil  office,  were  closed 
to  them. 

The  course  of  affairs  during  the  next  few  years  seems  con- 
fused and  uncertain.  The  chief  minister  was  Danby,  whose 
views,  on  the  whole,  were  those  of  Clarendon,  save  that 
he  wished  to  renew  the  alliance  with  Holland.  This 
meant  war  with  France,  and  here  he  had  the  support  of 
Parliament ;  but  Charles  was  bribed  to  keep  peace.  More- 
over, Parliament,  much  as  it  wanted  war,  hardly  dared 
trust  the  king  with  an  army.  On  the  other  hand,  Louis 
doubted,  and  with  reason,  the  good  faith  of  his  pensioner, 
and  tried  to  hold  him  in  check  by  intriguing  with  the 
leaders  of  the  Country  party.  Peace  on  the  Continent 
finally  made  T»uis  independent  of  Charles'  aid,  and  he 
took  revenge  for  the  double  dealing  with  which  he  had 
been  treated  by  revealing  the  whole  miserable  business. 
Wounded  national  pride  called  for  vengeance.  The  king 
was  inviolable,  and  vengeance  fell  upon  Danby,  his  un- 
willing agent.  In  vain  the  minister  pleaded  the  royal 
command ;  the  plea  was  set  aside,  and  the  principle 
asserted  that  a  minister  might  not  shield  himself  from 
responsibility  behind  the  order  of  the  sovereign.  If  the 
king  could  do  no  wrong,  then  some  one  must  be  made  re- 
sponsible. 

The  French  disclosures  and  the  fall  of  Danby  came  just 
at  the  time  when  the  country  was  thrown  into  a  panic 
by  the  discovery  of  the  so-called  Popish  Plot.  It  was 
asserted  that  the  papists  had  conspired  to  murder  the 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism.  219 

king  and  set  up  the  Romish  Church  again.  The  story 
rested  on  the  almost  unsupported  statements  of  Titus 
Gates,  a  man  of  degraded  character,  once  an  Anglican 
clergyman,  later  a  Jesuit  priest.  The  whole  country  was 
beside  itself  with  fright.  Men  went  about  armed,  and  the 
Commons  passed  a  resolution  "that  this  House  is  of 
opinion  that  there  hath  been  and  still  is  a  damnable  and 
hellish  plot,  carried  on  by  papist  recusants,  for  assassin- 
ating and  murdering  the  king,  for  subverting  the  govern- 
ment, and  rooting  out  the  Protestant  religion."  Several 
peers  were  committed  to  the  Tower  and  a  number  of  Catho- 
lics were  put  to  death.  An  act  was  passed  disabling 
papists  from  sitting  in  either  House.  Excitement  cul-  Disabling  Act. 
minated  in  the  introduction  of  a  bill  excluding  from  the  l( 
succession  the  Duke  of  York,  the  heir  to  the  throne,  on 
the  ground  of  his  being  a  Catholic.  To  save  his  brother, 
Charles  dissolved  Parliament  and  prorogued  the  new  assem- 
bly seven  times  before  he  dared  face  it.  Signs  of  a  re- 
action appeared.  The  country  was  sharply  divided  on  the 
question  of  exclusion.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  names 
of  Whig  and  Tory  first  appeared.  The  opposition,  those 

who  led  the  attack  on  York,  were  called  Whigs,  while  applied  to  the 

Covenanters 
the  supporters  of  the  crown  received  the  name  of  Tory,   of  the  west  of 

When  Parliament  met  again,  the  Exclusion  Bill  was  still  the  cry  of 

pressed,  but  it  was  plain  that  its  supporters  had  overshot  used  with  ' 

the  mark.    Their  violence  led  to  a  revival  of  loyal  feeling  peasants  of 
which  was  not  yet  spent  when  Charles  suddenly  died, 

Tory :  a  name 

acknowledging,  as  he  had  not  before  dared  to  do,  his  desire  given  to  brig- 
to  be  reconciled  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  land. 

The  guiding  principle  of  Charles'  policy  was  contained  in 
his  frequent  remark,  "Whatever  else  may  happen,  I  have 
no  wish  to  go  again  upon  my  travels."  There  was  never 
fear  that  he  would  press  a  matter  to  the  point  of  endanger- 
ing his  crown,  and,  on  the  whole,  the  years  of  his  reign 


220 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


James  II. 

1085-1689. 


were  marked  by  real  constitutional  progress.  Charles  made 
his  ministers  responsible  to  himself,  but  he  did  not  prevent 
their  being  held  responsible  by  Parliament.  Moreover  the 
establishment  of  Parliamentary  parties  was  a  long  stride 
toward  Parliamentary  rule,  though  the  principles  upon 
which  men  divided  were  not  yet  clearly  understood. 

The  Stuart  restoration  coincided  with  the  development 
in  the  English  nation  of  intense  feeling  on  certain  subjects. 
An  unreasoning  devotion  to  the  king  and  the  Church  was 
matched  by  an  equally  unreasoning  fear  and  detestation  of 
Puritans  and  Roman  Catholics.  Should  ever  these  senti- 
ments come  into  conflict,  it  was  a  question  which  would 
gain  the  mastery.  In  the  reign  of  James  II.  the  answer 
was  made  plain. 

As  a  man  James  was  more  respectable  than  his  brother, 
as  a  king  he  was  more  dangerous.  In  many  ways  he  re- 
sembled his  father.  He 
had  his  lack  of  tact  and 
pliability  coupled  with 
even  less  ability.  James' 
aims  were  the  aims  of 
Charles  II.,  to  make  him- 
self independent  of  Par- 
liament, to  establish  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  ; 
but  his  policy  was  differ- 
ent. Dependence  on 
France  was  odious  to 
him.  If  possible  he 


Charles  II.  and  his  Queen.    From 
Heath's  Chronicle,  1662. 


would  achieve  his  ends  in  some  less  humiliating  way. 
If  he  could  obtain  from  Parliament  what  he  wanted, 
plenty  of  money,  he  would  throw  England  in  the  scale 
against  France.  Or  he  would  try  to  gain  his  point  through 
an  alliance  with  the  Protestant  non-conformists.  Only 


The  Stuarts  and  Puritanism.  221 

as  a  last  resort  would  he  become  a  pensioner  of  Louis. 

The  first  Parliament  of  the  reign  showed  the  effect  of  the 
recent  reaction.    It  was  strongly  Tory,  and  readily  granted 
the  king  a  revenue  for  life  ;  it  manifested,  however,  no  will- 
ingness to  repeal  the  Test  Act  and  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act,   ^j^g  corpus 
the   immediate    object    of  James'    desire.      Nevertheless  $$$  ^aed  to 
after  the  failure  of  an  insurrection  in  favor  of  Monmouth,   oner^their115" 
an  illegitimate  son  of  Charles  II.,  who  thought  his  Prot-  ti-fed  or  Uber- 
estantism  would  efface  the  bar  sinister,  James  felt  so  sure  ated> 
of  the  national  temper  that  he  proceeded  to  the  execution 
of  his  plans.    Catholics  were  put  into  office  in  defiance  of 
the  Test  Act,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  form  a  standing 
army.     But  James  had  misunderstood  popular  feeling,  and 
he  found  himself  opposed  on  every  point.     Violent  objec- 
tion was  made  to  the  increase  of  the  army,  petitions  were 
pressed  against  any  tampering  with  the  Test  Act,  and  only 
one  half  the  supplies  demanded  by  the  king  were  granted. 

Defeated  in  his  hopes  of  Parliamentary  support,  James 
fell  back  on  certain  powers  of  which  he  held  himself 
possessed.  He  did  not  dare  at  first  to  dispense  with  the 
laws  against  the  Catholics  generally,  but  he  made  exceptions 
in  individual  cases.  In  this  he  was  supported  by  the  judges 
who  were  wholly  under  his  control.  Roman  Catholics  were 
placed  in  high  offices  in  the  Church  and  universities.  He 
proceeded  also  with  his  plan  of  forming  a  standing  army. 
Urged  on  by  the  Catholics  around  him  he  gained  courage 
for  a  more  sweeping  measure,  and  issued  a  General  Declara- 
tion of  Indulgence  which  set  aside  all  religious  tests.  At  First  Decla- 
,.  j  ration  of  In- 

the  same  time  an  attempt  was  made  to  secure  a  more  duigence. 

compliant  Parliament  by  remodeling  the  town  charters 
and  ordering  the  Lords-Lieutenant  of  the  counties  to 
send  up  lists  of  well-disposed  men,  Catholics  or  Dissen- 
ters. The  only  effect,  however,  was  to  increase  dissatis- 
faction. Matters  were  brought  to  a  crisis  by  the  publica- 


222 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Trial  of  the 
seven  bishops. 


Second  Decia-  *ion  °^  a  second  Declaration  of  Indulgence  which  the  clergy 
duigence.In~  were  ordered  to  read  from  the  pulpit.  The  excitement  was 
intense.  On  the  day  set,  but  four  of  the  London  clergy 
attempted  to  comply  with  the  royal  command,  and  their 
congregations  withdrew  from  the  church  as  soon  as  they 
began  to  read.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  six 
bishops  had  taken  the  lead  in  the  resistance  to  the  king, 
presenting  a  petition  in  which  they  begged  to  be  excused 
from  performing  what  they  held  to  be  an  illegal  act.  On 
the  ground  that  their  petition  was  a  seditious  libel  they 
were  brought  to  trial.  The  nation  watched  the  proceedings 
with  feverish  interest,  and  the  verdict  of  acquittal  was  re- 
ceived with  tumultuous  rejoicings  in  which  even  James' 
army  on  Hounslow  Heath  joined. 

Nevertheless,  matters  had  not  taken  a  turn  for  the 
better.  The  nation  had  bided  its  time,  enduring  much  for 
the  sacred  doctrine  of  non-resistance.  It  had  hoped  to  see 
in  time  an  end  of  its  troubles,  for  James'  only  children 
were  daughters  and  Protestants.  But  just  at  this  junc- 
ture the  queen  gave  birth  to  a  son,  and  at  oiice  the 
aspect  of  affairs  changed.  The  child  was  universally  held 
to  be  supposititious,  foisted  upon  the  nation  ;  but,  whatever 
the  truth,  he  was  presented  as  the  heir  to  the  throne,  and 
he  was  sure  to  be  brought  up  a  Catholic.  The  day  of  the 
acquittal  of  the  bishops,  a  letter  signed  by  prominent 
men  went  to  William  of  Orange,  the  husband  of  Princess 
Mary,  asking  him  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  English  liberty. 
William  of  Orange  was  the  leading  Protestant  statesman 
of  Europe.  He  had  thrown  himself  heart  and  soul  into 

He  saw  the  advantage  of  se- 
curing the  aid  of  England.  But  the  difficulties  in  the  way 
were  great ;  English  national  feeling,  Dutch  jealousy,  the 
opposition  of  his  continental  allies,  were  all  to  be  met. 
The  unbridled  ambition  of  Louis  and  the  boundless  stu- 


The  Revolution 

of  1688.  the  struggle  against  France. 


The  Stuarts  and  Paritantism.  223 

pidity  of  James  combined  to  smooth  the  way.  Europe  was 
beginning  to  see  that  every  nerve  must  be  strained  if  a 
limit  was  to  be  set  to  Louis'  aggressions.  One  by  one, 
James  drove  all  elements  of  the  nation  into  opposition. 
He  continued  his  attack  on  the  Church  and  universities, 
and  alienated  the  army  by  bringing  over  Irish  Catholic 
forces.  Tories  and  Whigs,  Churchmen  and  Dissenters, 
country  and  town,  all  alike  were  brought  to  feel  that  politi- 
cal freedom,  the  Protestant  faith,  the  national  honor,  were 
in  danger  so  long  as  James  wore  the  crown.  William  no 
longer  hesitated.  Before  setting  sail  he  issued  a  manifesto 
which  summed  up  James'  unconstitutional  acts,  and  stated 
that  as  the  husband  of  Princess  Mary  he  proposed  to  go  to 
England  to  secure  a  free  and  legal  Parliament  by  whose  de- 
cision he  would  abide.  In  spite  of  warnings,  James  had 
closed  his  eyes  to  what  was  passing.  Forced  at  last  to 
see  his  danger,  he  made  concessions  right  and  left.  It  was 
too  late;  one  after  another  of  the  leading  statesmen  and 
generals  abandoned  him,  even  his  own  daughter  Anne 
went  over  to  William.  At  length,  with  the  fate  of  his 
father  before  his  eyes,  he  fled  to  France  in  disguise,  and 
Parliament  proceeded  solemnly  to  declare  that  "  King 
James  II.,  having  endeavored  to  subvert  the  constitution  of 
the  kingdom  by  breaking  the  original  contract  between 
king  and  people,  and  by  the  advice  of  Jesuits  and  other 
wicked  people  having  violated  the  fundamental  laws,  and 
having  withdrawn  himself  out  of  the  kingdom,  had  abdi- 
cated the  government,  and  that  the  throne  had  thereby  be- 
come vacant."  In  the  place  of  James,  William  and  Mary 
were  formally  called  to  rule  over  England.  The  devotion 
to  the  principle  of  passive  obedience  had  given  way  before 
the  determination  of  the  people  to  preserve  political  free- 
dom and  to  defend  the  national  Church. 


CHAPTEE  X. 


PARTIES  AND  PARTY  GOVERNMENT. 


Revolution 
of  1688. 


Its  results. 


Illustrative  Readings. 
Esmond;  Thackeray. 
The  Four  Georges;  McCarthy. 
Macaulay's  Essays  on  Chatham 

and  Pitt. 
Burke;  Morley. 

Important  Dates. 
1693-1694,  The  Whig  Junto. 
1701,  Act  of  Settlement. 
1701,  Death  of  James  II. 


1707,  Union  of  England  and  Scot- 
land. 

1715,  Jacobite  Rising. 

1721-1742,  Walpole's  Ministry. 

1745,  Rising  of  the  Young  Pre- 
tender. 

1757-1761,  Pitt's  Ministry. 

1763,  Peace  of  Paris. 

1770-1782,  North's  Ministry. 

1783,  The  Coalition  Ministry. 

1783-1801,  Pitt's  Ministry. 

1793,  War  with  France. 


Genealogical  Table. 


GEORGE  I., 
1711-1727. 

George  II.. 
1727-1760. 

Frederick, 
Prince  of  Wales. 

George  III., 
1760-1820. 


George  IV., 
1820-1830. 


William  IV. 
1830-1837. 


Edward, 
Duke  of  Kent. 

Victoria, 

1837- 


THE  revolution  of  1688  marks  the  overthrow  of  the 
Stuart  theory  of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  the  triumph 
of  the  Whig  principle  that  the  king  reigns  by  the  will  of 
the  people.  In  the  place  of  a  sovereign  whose  word  was 
decisive  was  established  a  supreme  Parliament,  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  nation ;  government  by  prerogative  gave 
way  to  the  rule  of  law.  The  work  was  well  done ;  arbi- 
trary taxation  and  arbitrary  legislation  could  never  again  be 

224 


Parties  and  Party  Government.  225 

attempted.  Little,  in  fact,  was  left  for  the  next  century  to 
do  except  to  adapt  the  machinery  of  government  to  the 
new  controlling  principles.  Complete,  however,  as  was 
the  revolution,  it  was  nevertheless  essentially  conserv- 
ative. The  extravagances  of  the  Rebellion  had  made 
men  cautious.  All  unnecessary  change  was  deprecated. 
Nothing  was  attacked  that  could  safely  be  retained.  In 
sharp  contrast  with  the  earlier  movement  was  also  the 
peaceful  character  of  the  Whig  Revolution.  Without 
bloodshed,  with  but  little  excitement,  a  king  was  deposed 
and  another  ruler  set  in  his  place  and  the  whole  conception 
of  the  government  changed.  Three  documents  sum  up  the 
achievements  of  1688.  In  the  simple,  restrained  language 
of  the  Bill  of  Rights,  the  fundamental  principles  of  English  Bill  of  Rights, 
freedom  were  reaffirmed,  the  power  and  privileges  of  Par-  i^flft^1-11 
liament  were  reasserted,  the  royal  prerogative  was  denied,  §o°i9f'1Series' 
the  rights  of  the  subject  over  life,  liberty,  and  property 
were  maintained.  By  the  same  measure,  supplemented  by 
the  Act  of  Settlement,  the  succession  was  determined,  and  ^ent!  ^701?* 
henceforth  all  rulers  of  England  must  base  their  claims  to 
the  crown  on  Parliamentary  statutes.  Without  the  aid  of 
the  Dissenters  the  overthrow  of  James  could  not  have  been 
accomplished ;  it  was  impossible  to  disregard  their  claims, 
and  in  1689  the  Toleration  Act  was  passed,  giving  to  all  Toleration  Act. 
Protestants  liberty  of  worship.  It  was  not  a  generous 
measure ;  toleration,  not  equality,  was  granted ;  much  of 
the  penal  legislation  of  Charles  II.  was  still  in  force,  and 
nothing  was  done  for  the  Catholics. 

Within  a  few  weeks  the  revolution  was  accomplished ;  to 
carry  into  effect  what  had  been  gained  was  the  work  of  a 
century.  The  natural  consequence  of  the  supremacy  of 
Parliament  was  Parliamentary  control  of  the  executive, 
the  transformation  of  the  ministers  of  the  king  into 
national  ministers  responsible  to  the  people,  not  to  the 


226  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

sovereign,  and  all-powerful  if  secure  of  popular  support. 
This  was  not  at  first  realized.  Still  less  was  the  means  of, 
bringing  about  the  change  understood.  More  than  a  cen- 
tury of  blind,  stumbling  experiment  was  necessary  to 
secure  the  establishment  of  cabinet  government,  that  is, 
government  by  ministers  holding  the  same  political  views, 
acting  as  a  unit,  in  harmony  with  the  prevailing  party  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  standing  or  falling,  not  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  king,  but  in  accordance  with  the  will  of 
the  nation  as  expressed  through  its  representatives. 

Nor  was  the  principle  of  party  organization  as  a  con- 
trolling political  force  yet  understood,  still  less  its  im- 
portance as  a  basis  for  ministerial  rule.  Parties  existed, 
but  not  party  government.  To  overturn  the  despotism  of 
James,  Whigs  and  Tories  had  cooperated  heartily ;  but 
success  at  once  brought  out  differences  of  opinion.  Al- 
though determined  to  reign  constitutionally,  William  had 
no  mind  to  become  a  mere  figure-head,  and  he  naturally 
inclined  to  the  Tory  party  with  its  more  liberal  views  of 
the  royal  prerogative.  On  the  other  hand,  gratitude  and 
self-interest  bound  him  to  the  Whigs  who  had  placed  him 
on  the  throne.  He  attempted,  therefore,  to  rule  by  the 
support  of  both  parties,  including  in  his  ministry  Whigs 
and  Tories.  The  impracticability  of  this  was  not  at  first 
realized,  but  the  friction  that  it  caused  soon  became  ap- 
parent. Quarrels  ensued.  Accusations  of  inefficiency  and 
corruption  were  raised.  Parliament  did  nothing  to  better 
the  situation,  for  neither  party  felt  responsible  for  the 
government.  In  the  House  of  Commons  there  was  no 
assured  majority.  One  day  so  many  Whigs  wouM  be  off 
at  tennis  or  a  cock-fight  that  the  Tories  had  everything 
their  own  way,  but  the  following  day  conditions  might  be 
reversed.  "  Nobody,"  it  was  said,  "can  know  one  day  what 
a  House  of  Commons  will  do  the  next."  It  was  the  work 


Wars  with 


Parties  and  Party  Government.  227 

of  the  Earl  of  Sunderland,  once  the  counselor  of  James, 
now  William's  warm  supporter,  to  suggest  a  remedy  for 
these  disorders.  Acting  under  his  advice,  the  king  formed 
his  ministry  from  the  Whig  party  alone,  in  the  belief  that 
by  this  means  political  responsibility  might  be  fixed,  and  a 
stable  support  secured.  This  Whig  Junto,  as  it  was  called, 
was  of  importance  in  that  it  was  based  on  the  admission 
that  not  royal  favor,  but  the  cooperation  of  the  Commons 
was  essential  to  the  success  of  the  ministry.  Moreover,  it 
was  the  first  recognition  of  the  principle  that  this  coopera- 
tion could  be  best  secured  through  a  ministry  acting  as  a 
unit  in  representing  the  dominant  opinions  of  the  House. 

For  twenty  years  after  the  Revolution,  England's  rela- 
tions with  the  Continent  controlled  partv  politics.  William  France. 

War  of  the 

accepted  the  English  crown  that  he  might  throw  England   English  Suc- 
cession, 1689- 

into  the  scales  against  France.    Anne,  his  successor,  was  J^7-    . 

War  of  the 
completely  under  the  influence  of  Marlborough,  the  great  Spanish  suc- 

military  leader,  and  he  was  bent  on  continuing  the  strug-  i7*3- 

gle.    The  Whigs  gave  to  the  contest  with  Louis  XIV.  their 

hearty  support.    On  the  other  hand,  opposition  to  the  war  Tories  at  the 

became  more  and  more  a  part  of  the  Tory  policy.    On  the  eighteenth 

century. 

Church  questions,  also,  the  two  parties  divided  sharply ; 
toleration  was  a  cardinal  Whig  principle,  while  the  Tories 
insisted  on  maintaining  the  oppressive  laws  against  dis- 
sent. After  the  death  of  William  the  two  great  parties 
divided  on  dynastic  questions  also.  The  Whigs  were  bent 
on  maintaining  the  Act  of  Settlement  and  the  claims 
of  the  House  of  Hanover,  while  the  opposing  party  sup- 
ported more  or  less  openly  the  Jacobite  cause,  and  were 
forming  plans  for  a  second  Stuart  restoration.  Their  calcu- 
lations were  upset,  however,  by  the  unexpected  death  of 
Anne,  and,  before  they  could  act,  the  energy  of  the  Whig 
leaders  had  secured  the  throne  to  the  Elector  of  Hanover. 
The  accession  of  George  I.  meant  the  establishment  of 


228 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


George  I. 

1714-1727. 


George  II. 
1727-1760. 


Parliament  in 
the  eighteenth 
century. 


Whig  ascendency  for  forty-five  years.  A  pretender  across 
the  water,  supported  by  a  strong  element  among  the  peo- 
ple, forced  the  earlier  Hanoverians  to  lean  upon  the  party 
that  placed  them  on  the  throne  and  to  accept  its  principles. 
Both  George  I.  and  his  son,  foreign  in  interest  and  unable 
to  understand  English  politics,  were  content  to  leave  every- 
thing to  the  Whig  leaders.  They  were  the  real  rulers  of 
England.  But  behind  the  ministry  stood  a  supreme  Parli- 
ament, and  in  Parliament  power  lay  with  the  Commons. 
Moreover,  the  course  of  events  since  the  Revolution  had 
shown  that  in  case  of  opposition  between  the  two  Houses, 
the  Lords  would  have  to  give  way.  Apparently  the 
triumph  of  the  people  was  complete. 

The  supremacy  of  Parliament  over  the  executive  did  not, 
however,  imply  government  by  the  people.  The  Revolu- 
tion of  1688  had  in  fact  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a 
kind  of  aristocratic  republic  where  a  few  great  families 
ruled  the  nation  in  the  name  of  a  king  who  was  a  mere 
figure-head,  and  by  the  authority  of  a  Parliament  which 
they  systematically  corrupted.  Power  had  been  acquired 
without  a  corresponding  increase  of  responsibility.  De- 
bates were  secret,  division  lists  were  never  published,  public 
opinion  could  exert  but  little  influence.  Moreover,  the 
electoral  system  was  such  that  the  House  in  no  wise  repre- 
sented the  nation.  In  the  counties  there  had  been  no 
change  in  the  franchise  since  the  time  of  Henry  VI.  The 
manner  of  holding  land  had  been  modified  and  new  forms 
of  property  had  come  into  existence,  but  the  electors 
were  still  the  forty-shilling  freeholders.  The  condition  of 
the  towns  was  far  worse.  Many  had  fallen  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  corporations,  and  the  right  of  voting  was 
limited  to  a  mere  handful  of  the  inhabitants.  In  others  all 
sorts  of  anomalous  franchises  existed.  In  Weymouth,  for 
example,  the  title  to  any  share  of  certain  ancient  rents 


Parties  and  Party  Government. 


229 


constituted  the  qualification  for  voting.  The  report  of  a 
commission  of  inspection  showed  that  several  electors  voted 
by  right  of  their  claim  to  an  undivided  twentieth  part  of 
a  sixpence.  For  generations  there  had  been  no  reappor- 
tionment  of  seats.  Population  had  shifted  without  a  cor- 
responding change  of  representation.  Much  injustice  was 
the  result.  Lancashire,  with  nearly  one  and  a  half  million 
inhabitants,  had  fourteen  representatives  ;  Cornwall's  three 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants  returned  forty-four  mem- 


The  Election.    Canvassing  for  Votes.    Hogarth. 

bers.  Great  cities  like  Birmingham  and  Manchester  were 
unrepresented,  while  old  Sarum,  with  but  one  house,  and 
Dunwich,  which  had  disappeared  under  the  waves  of  the 
North  Sea,  still  returned  their  two  members.  It  was  a 
system  of  "represented  ruins  and  unrepresented  cities." 
Such  a  condition  of  things  naturally  invited  corruption. 
Many  of  the  towns  were  "  pocket"  or  nomination  boroughs 
controlled  by  some  neighboring  noble  or  landowner. 
Others  were  put  up  publicly  for  sale,  the  customary  price 


230  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation 

being  about  £4,000.  Contested  elections  when  they  oc- 
curred involved  the  expenditure  of  immense  sums  of 
money.  One  Yorkshire  election  cost  nearly  £150,000. 
Under  this  condition  of  things,  systematic  bribery  seemed 
the  only  means  of  securing  party  success  or  of  giving 
stability  to  the  government.  Corruption  began  with  the 
meanest  voter  and  ended  in  the  cabinet.  Large  sums  were 
expended  in  the  purchase  of  seats.  Places  and  pensions 
and  titles  were  the  rewards  held  out  to  the  supporters  of 
the  administration.  In  the  first  Parliament  of  George  I., 
two  hundred  and  seventy-one  of  the  members  held  offices 
or  pensions.  One  of  the  most  arduous  duties  of  the  minis- 
ters was  the  disposal  of  the  secret  service  funds.  At  one 
time  an  office  was  established  at  the  Treasury  for  the  pur- 
chase of  members,  and  more  than  twenty  thousand  pounds 
are  said  to  have  been  spent  in  a  single  day.  The  example 
of  the  government  was  followed  by  all  the  great  lords. 
Careful  estimates  showed  that  at  least  three  fifths  of  the 
members  of  the  House  were  returned  by  the  crown  and  one 
hundred  and  sixty-two  private  individuals. 

By  no  one  was  this  system  of  corruption  so  well  under- 
Walpole's 
Ministry.  stood  or  so  successfully  applied  as  by  Sir  Robert  Walpole, 

the  great  Whig  minister.  He  came  into  power  soon  after 
the  accession  of  George  I.,  and  with  statesmanlike  appre- 
ciation of  the  situation  took  for  the  keynote  of  his  policy 
"peace  at  home  and  abroad."  All  agitation  was  discour- 
aged, the  most  needed  reforms  were  left  unconsidered. 
"  Better  let  sleeping  dogs  lie,"  was  Walpole's  maxim. 
For  almost  twenty  years  this  policy  was  pursued.  A 
spirit  of  apathy  seemed  to  have  seized  upon  the  country, 
but,  in  reality,  the  nation  was  making  good  what  it  had 
gained  by  the  overthrow  of  the  Stuarts.  The  ascendency 
of  the  Whigs  during  these  years  was  undisputed,  for  the 
Tories,  linked  to  a  lost  cause,  were  hopelessly  discredited 


Parties  and  Party  Government.  231 

with  the  nation.  Success  and  long  tenure  of  power  brought 
out,  however,  elements  of  opposition  within  the  dominant 
party.  Personal  feeling,  dislike  of  Walpole's  methods, 
dissatisfaction  with  his  persistent  peace  policy,  combined 
to  form  the  party  of  "  Patriots."  Their  efforts  ended  in  the 
overthrow  of  Walpole  and  the  reversal  of  his  foreign  policy. 
Politically,  however,  there  was  but  little  change.  Walpole's  war  with 
methods  were  the  methods  of  his  successors.  The  same  Warwith 
clique  of  great  families  controlled  the  government ;  politics 
were  dominated  by  corruption,  reforms  were  frowned  down. 
But  a  change  was  at  hand.  In  1756  the  Seven  Years' 
War  broke  out.  England  could  not  safely  hold  aloof, 
in  fact  ever  since  1748  her  colonies  had  been  waging  a 
desultory  war  with  the  French.  It  soon  became  ap- 
parent, however,  that  she  was  in  no  condition  to  fight. 
A  storm  of  indignation  greeted  the  revelation  of  min- 
isterial incompetence.  At  this  critical  moment  there  came 
forward  a  man  capable  of  inspiring  the  nation  with  courage 
for  the  contest,  William  Pitt,  one  of  the  Young  Patri- 
ots. "  I  know  that  I  can  save  this  nation,  and  that 
nobody  else  can,"  he  declared.  Disliked  by  king  and  Ministry  of 
politicians,  he  leaned  not  upon  the  House,  but  upon  the  wmiamPi  • 
nation,  and  his  summons  to  the  control  of  affairs  meant 
the  triumph  of  the  popular  will.  His  statesmanlike  views 
and  brilliant  oratory,  no  less  than  the  integrity  of  his 
character  and  the  ardor  of  his  patriotism,  won  the  devotion 
of  England.  He  breathed  a  new  spirit  into  the  adminis- 
tration. The  army  and  navy  were  reorganized  and  sup- 
plies were  raised.  Under  the  inspiration  of  the  "  Great 
Commoner,"  England  was  winning  victories  from  India  to 
America  when  the  king  suddenly  died.  During  his  life 
George  II.  had  had  little  influence  on  the  government,  but 
his  death  marks  an  epoch  in  England's  constitutional 
development.  For  more  than  forty  years  the  Whigs  had 


232 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Rising  of  the 
Highlanders  in 
support  of  the 
Young  Pre- 
tender. 


Georg 

1760-1 


m. 


been  in  control.  Long  tenure  of  power  had  brought  the 
usual  results,  corruption  and  neglect  of  public  interest. 
Politics  meant  little  more  than  a  greedy  scramble  for  office. 
The  Whigs  had  done  a  great  work  in  defending  religious 
and  political  freedom  against  the  House  of  Stuart,  they 
had  remained  true  to  the  principles  of  1688,  under  their 
rule  persecution  had  ceased,  justice  had  been  adminis- 
tered, the  supremacy  of  Parliament  had  been  established ; 
but  they  had  ceased  to  be  a  party  of  progress.  Demands 
for  reform  met  with  no  response,  the  needs  of  the  many 
were  lost  sight  of  in  the  interests  of  the  few. 

Just  at  the  moment  when  the  country  was  growing 
weary  of  Whig  rule,  the  Tories,  after  years  of  political 
insignificance,  reappeared,  organized  on  a  new  basis,  in- 
spired by  different  principles.  So  long  as  Toryism  meant 
Jacobitism,  its  revival  was  out  of  the  question  ;  the  nation 
was  too  strongly  Protestant  and  Hanoverian  to  favor  a 
Stuart  restoration.  But  Jacobitism  came  to  an  end  in  1745, 
with  the  failure  of  a  third  attempt  to  bring  back  the 
Stuarts.  In  the  writings  of  Bolingbroke,  greatest  of  Tory 
thinkers,  was  furnished  the  basis  of  a  purified,  reorganized 
party.  Under  his  inspiration  the  Tories  were  brought  to 
accept  the  principles  of  the  Revolution,  and  to  support  the 
Hanoverian  rule  while  holding  fast  to  the  idea  of  authority 
as  opposed  to  the  Whig  cry  of  liberty.  In  their  opposition 
to  the  Whigs,  they  were  sure  of  a  leader  in  the  young  king. 
George  III.  had  been  trained  by  his  mother  in  the  spirit  of 
Bolingbroke's  Patriot  King.  His  ideal  was  a  strong  mon- 
arch governing  by  his  own  will,  but  in  the  interest  of  the 
whole  nation.  He  came  to  the  throne  with  a  carefully 
considered  plan  for  overthrowing  the  Whig  clique  and 
ruling  through  ministers  dependent  upon  his  pleasure. 
Parties,  he  maintained,  were  at  an  end,  and  he  purposed  to 
act,  not  as  a  party  leader,  but  as  the  head  of  the  whole 


Parties  and  Party  Government.  233 

nation.  In  this  he  was  sure  of  the  support  of  the  people  to 
whom  party  government  meant  simply  the  domination  of 
a  few  great  families  ruling  in  their  own  interest.  The  first 
ten  years  of  his  reign  were  spent  in  efforts  to  establish  this 
policy.  Supported  by  the  nation  in  his  war  against  the 
Whigs,  and  aided  by  divisions  in  the  party,  George  soon 
succeeded  in  driving  Pitt  from  power  and  in  appointing 
ministers  dependent  upon  himself.  He  discovered,  how- 
ever, that  the  nation,  while  willing  to  strengthen  the 
crown  against  the  Whigs,  acted  in  the  interests  of  a  more 
popular  government,  and  was  far  from  accepting  his  views 
of  the  royal  functions.  The  Bute  ministry  was  soon  over- 
thrown, and  for  a  short  time  the  Whigs  were  again  in 
power.  But  the  illness  of  Pitt  and  the  rise  of  the  Ameri- 
can question  gave  George  a  second  opportunity  of  putting 
his  plans  into  execution.  What  he  before  attempted  in 
alliance  with  the  nation  he  now  accomplished  with  the 
support  of  the  Tory  party.  In  1770  a  Tory  ministry  under 

Lord  North  was  established,  and  for  the  next  twelve  years  Worth's  Minis- 
try.    1770-1782. 
George  "ruled  as  well  as  reigned."    The  national  policy 

was  the  king's  policy,  the  ministers  were  his  agents,  Par- 
liament was  his  tool.  Bribery  was  carried  to  lengths  here- 
tofore unknown.  Preferment  in  Church  or  State  was  made 
the  reward  of  political  usefulness,  and  loss  of  office  followed 
refusal  to  support  the  royal  policy.  George  did  not  disdain 
to  make  use  of  his  direct  personal  influence  to  gain  his 
ends.  In  a  letter  to  Lord  North  he  wrote  in  reference  to  a 
recent  vote  in  Parliament,  "  I  wish  a  list  could  be  prepared 
of  those  that  went  away  and  those  that  deserted  to  the 
minority.  This  would  be  a  rule  for  my  conduct  in  the 
drawing-room  to-morrow."  By  such  means  the  king  com- 
manded a  steady  majority.  Royal  authority  was  based  on 
a  Parliament  which  was  bought  and  sold. 
The  attempt  of  the  nation  to  throw  off  the  domination 


234  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

of  the  landed  aristocracy  had  ended  in  the  triumph  of  the 
king  and  a  policy  of  repression.  All  popular  movements 
were  put  down  ;  Parliamentary  reform  at  home,  self-govern- 
ment in  the  colonies,  were  met  by  determined  opposition. 
George  was  willing  to  govern  in  the  interest  of  the  people, 
but  he  was  not  willing  that  they  should  govern  themselves. 
On  the  whole,  the  royal  policy  met  with  little  resistance. 
The  American  war  was  at  first  popular  with  the  mass  of 
the  people.  Commercial  interest  and  national  pride  were 
enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  king.  To  many  of  the  opposi- 
tion party,  however,  the  question  appeared  in  a  different 
light.  Exclusion  from  power  was  transforming  the  Whigs 
into  a  party  of  reform.  Pitt  and  his  following  had  long 
called  attention  to  the  defects  of  the  Parliamentary  and 
administrative  system,  but  in  vain  ;  the  Whigs  felt  no  need 
of  change  so  long  as  they  were  in  control.  Now,  however, 
they  realized  the  evils  of  court  influence  when  used  against 
themselves,  they  saw  the  need  of  reforms  which  might 
turn  to  their  advantage.  In  the  resistance  of  the  colonists 
their  own  interests  were  at  stake  ;  triumph  of  the  royal 
policy  in  America  meant  its  firm  establishment  in  England. 
Accordingly,  under  the  vigorous  leadership  of  Burke  and 
Pitt,  now  Earl  of  Chatham,  they  made  the  cause  of  the 
revolted  colonies  their  own,  at  the  same  time  giving  a 
steady  support  to  every  demand  for  reform.  For  a  time 
they  could  make  but  little  headway  against  the  general 
approval  of  the  war  and  the  apathy  of  the  masses.  But 
failure  in  America  and  the  heavy  burden  of  taxation 
changed  the  current  of  feeling.  Moreover,  the  struggle 
of  the  colonists  for  liberty  had  not  been  without  effect 
in  arousing  Englishmen  to  the  evils  of  their  own  system  of 
government.  The  reform  movement  assumed  formidable 
dimensions.  Great  meetings  were  held  throughout  the 
country  with  the  intention  of  bringing  public  opinion  to 


Parties  and  Party  Government.  235 

bear  on  Parliament.  Petitions  demanding  reform  in  the 
administration,  and  signed  by  thousands,  were  presented  in 
the  House.  One  measure  after  another  was  brought  for- 
ward. Burke  introduced  his  celebrated  measure  for  eco- 
nomic reform,  and  a  bill  to  deprive  revenue  officers  of  their 
votes  was  followed  by  another  demanding  the  exclusion  of 
contractors  from  the  House.  The  Duke  of  Richmond  Richmond's 
brought  in  a  motion  for  Parliamentary  reform,  asking  for  torai  refomu 
annual  Parliaments,  manhood  suffrage,  and  equal  electoral 
districts.  Finally,  a  startling  resolution  was  carried  to  the 
effect  "  that  the  influence  of  the  crown  was  increased,  is 
increasing,  and  ought  to  be  diminished."  It  was  plain 
that  the  royal  policy  had  failed.  Before  the  combined 
pressure  of  defeat  in  America  and  demand  for  reform  at 
home,  the  king  was  forced  to  give  way.  Lord  North  re- 
signed and  the  Whigs  returned  to  power.  But  the  treaties 
which  closed  the  war  were  mismanaged,  control  of  the 
government  cooled  the  desire  for  reform.  The  hostility  of 
the  king  and  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  nation  soon  brought 
about  the  downfall  of  the  new  ministry.  In  its  place  was 
set  up  a  coalition  ministry,  an  "unholy  combination"  of 
Lord  North  and  Fox,  the  leader  of  the  progressive  wing  of  The  Coalition 
the  Whigs.  Popular  indignation  was  aroused  at  an  alliance 
formed  apparently  for  the  sole  purpose  of  securing  power. 
The  king  led  the  attack  upon  the  coalition,  and,  regardless 
of  the  fact  that  it  had  the  support  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, turned  it  out  and  called  upon  William  Pitt,  a  son  of 
the  Great  Commoner,  to  form  a  ministry.  Pitt,  although 
only  twenty-four,  had  already  made  his  mark  in  the  House. 
He  had  none  of  the  fire  of  his  father,  but  his  tact  and 
sagacity  were  unerring.  A  tremendous  struggle  ensued. 
It  was  the  king,  Pitt,  and  the  nation  against  the  coalition 
and  Parliament.  On  one  vote  after  another  Pitt  was  de- 
feated, but  he  maintained  his  place,  declaring  with  truth 


236 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Pitt's  Ministry. 

1871-1801. 

1804-1806. 


French  Revo- 
lution. 
1789. 


that  the  House  did  not  represent  the  nation.  The  contest 
ended  in  Pitt's  triumph  and  the  establishment  of  the  royal 
policy  until  the  conclusion  of  the  reign. 

Pitt,  however,  was  too  strong  to  be  a  tool  as  North  had 
been,  and  so  long  as  he  remained  in  power  his  was  the 
guiding  mind  in  English  affairs.  He  might  act  under 
royal  authority,  accepting  the  Tory  doctrine  that  to  the 
king  belonged  the  choice  of  ministers,  but  nevertheless  he 
preserved  a  large  measure  of  independence.  He  had  en- 
tered public  life  a  Whig,  his  policy  was  liberal,  and  he 
should  have  received  the  support  of  the  Whigs ;  lacking 
that,  he  leaned  more  and  more  on  the  Tory  party.  Insen- 
sibly his  views  were  modified  by  his  relations  with  the 
king  and  by  his  party  associations.  Nevertheless  he  still 
favored  reform  and  introduced  a  bill  which,  however,  was 
not  thoroughgoing  and  which  recognized  the  right  of  prop- 
erty in  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The  measure 
was  defeated,  for  the  demand  for  reform  was  subsiding; 
there  was  even  yet  very  little  intelligent  public  interest  in 
the  subject.  Pitt's  especial  ability  lay  in  finance.  He  met 
the  national  evil  of  smuggling  by  lowering  the  customs. 
The  falling  off  in  revenue  he  made  good  through  an  excise. 
Careful  management  turned  the  deficit  into  a  surplus  which 
was  applied  to  paying  off  the  national  debt.  Pitt  also 
attempted,  although  without  success,  to  give  to  Ireland  the 
commercial  freedom  which  would  have  done  so  much  to 
disarm  rebellion. 

All  things  pointed  to  a  period  of  cautious  reform  when 
suddenly  the  country  was  startled  by  the  outbreak  of  the 
French  Revolution.  At  first  public  opinion  was  divided. 
To  the  timid  and  conservative  the  rising  of  the  French 
people  meant  the  complete  overthrow  of  the  established 
order,  the  beginning  of  anarchy ;  but  by  many  progressive 
Englishmen  it  was  hailed  with  enthusiasm.  The  excesses 


Parties  and  Party  Government.  237 

of  the  Reign  of  Terror,  however,  turned  the  current  of 
feeling.  Men  recoiled  from  deeds  so  un-English,  and  the 
champions  of  popular  liberty  were  silenced.  The  attacks 
of  the  French  were  directed  against  the  crown  and  the 
privileged  classes.  In  England,  as  a  result,  the  Tories,  the 
king's  party,  became  the  champions  of  vested  interests. 
The  clergy,  the  aristocracy,  the  wealthy  middle  classes 
rallied  around  the  king  in  defense  of  privilege  and  prop- 
erty. The  cause  of  reform  received  a  fatal  blow.  Burke, 
once  the  advocate  of  political  progress,  became  now  the 
mouthpiece  of  reaction,  and  in  his  "Reflections  on  the 
French  Revolution"  issued  the  manifesto  of  a  crusade 
against  democracy.  The  opposition  dwindled  to  a  mere 
handful.  Fox's  following  numbered  only  sixty,  a  hopeless 
minority.  It  became,  however,  what  it  had  never  been 
before,  a  party  of  popular  reform ;  but  it  had  little  influ- 
ence in  politics,  it  could  scarcely  obtain  a  hearing.  The 
propagandist  attitude  of  the  French  revolutionists  aroused 
a  panic  of  alarm  in  England.  The  abolition  of  monarchy 

ITiPo* 

and  the  execution  of  Louis  XVI.  at  length  determined  the 
government  to  join  hands  with  royalist  Europe  in  an 
attack  on  the  new  republic.  At  the  outset  this  was  a  war 
against  opinion,  and  men  might  honestly  doubt  its  justice. 
When  the  republic  was  transformed  into  an  empire  with 
conquest  as  its  watchword,  it  became  a  struggle  of  self- 
defense  and  the  nation  threw  itself  heart  and  soul  into  the 
contest.  It  was  in  the  beginning  a  Tory  war,  and  its  con- 
tinuance meant  the  continuance  of  Tory  ascendency. 
More  and  more  the  party  became  an  aristocratic  party, 

actuated  by  motives  of  class  aggrandizement,  incapable  of 

Grey's  motion 

looking  at  public  affairs  except  from  a  class  point  of  view,   for  Parliamen- 
tary reform 

Every  popular  movement  was  repressed.    Motions  for  Par-  thrown  out  by 

a  vote  of  232  to 

liamentary  reform  were  thrown  out  by  large  majorities.   41  in  1793,  of 256 

to  91  in  1797. 
freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  was  abridged,  public 


238 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Irish  Rebellion. 
1798. 


Act  of  Union. 
1800. 


meetings  were  prohibited.  The  chronic  discontent  of  the 
Irish  gave  opportunity  for  French  interference.  A  rising 
in  1798  was  cruelly  repressed  by  the  English  government, 
and  led  to  the  Act  of  Union,  carried  in  1800,  in  face  of  the 
opposition  of  the  "whole  unbribed  intellect  of  Ireland." 
Everywhere  a  policy  of  high-handed  repression  was  pur- 
sued. For  twenty  years  all  progress  was  checked,  and  the 
prospect  of  reform,  so  bright  in  1780,  seemed,  thirty  years 
later,  hopelessly  deferred.*  More  than  a  century  had 
elapsed  since  the  overthrow  of  the  Stuart  despotism  but 
England  had  apparently  made  no  advance  toward  popular 
government.  Parliament  was  the  agent  of  the  classes,  the 
king  could  still  impose  his  will  upon  the  nation.  Never- 
theless, much  had  been  gained.  In  the  organization  of 
parties  and  the  development  of  the  cabinet,  governmental 
forms  had  been  established,  well  fitted  to  give  effect  to  the 
will  of  the  people  and  to  make  possible  successful  demo- 
cratic rule. 


*  From  1688  to  1815,  the  country  was  Involved  in  seven  great  wars. 
Only  sixty-two  years,  or  less  than  half  the  whole  period,  were  exempt. 

War  of  the  English  Succession,  1689-97 cost  £     32,643,764 

War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  1702-13 cost        50,684,956 

War  of  the  Austrian  Succession,  1739-18 cost        43,655,192 

Seven  Years'  War,  1756-63 cost        82,623,738 

War  of  American  Independence,  1776-S3 cost        97,599,496 

The  Napoleonic  Wars,  1793-1815 cost      831,446,449 


Total  cost £1,138,653,595 


CHAPTEE  XL 

GROWTH  OF  DEMOCRACY. 

Illustrative  Readings.  Sir  Robert  Peel,  progressive  Tory, 

Adam  Bede ;  George  Eliot.  1841-1846. 

Alton  Locke  ;  Kingsley.  Lord  Russell,  Liberal,  1846-1852. 

Coningsby ;  Disraeli.    '  ^^  Derbv'  Conservative,  1852. 

Locksley  Hall ;  Tennyson.  IMA  Aberdeen,  Whig  and  Peelite 
Locksley     Hall    Seventy    Years       coalition,  1852-1855. 

After  Lord  Palmerston,   Liberal,   1855- 

John  Halifax,  Gentleman;  Miss       1858< 

Muloch  Lord  Derby,   Conservative,  1858- 

1859. 

The  Sovereigns.  Lord  Palmerston,    Liberal,   1859- 
George  IV.,  1820-1830.  1865- 

William  IV.,  1830-1837.  Lard.  Russell,  Liberal,  1865-1866. 

Victoria,  1837-  Lord   Derby,  Conservative,  1866- 

1868. 

The  Prime  Ministers.  Mr  Gladstone,  Liberal,  1868-1874. 

Lord  Liverpool,  Tory,  1812-1827.  Mr.  Disraeli,  Conservative,  1874- 
Mr.   Canning,    progressive  Tory,       1880. 

1827.  Mr.  Gladstone,  Liberal,  1880-1886. 

Duke  of  Wellington,  Tory,  1828-  Lord     Salisbury,     Conservative, 

1830.  1886-1893. 

Lord  Grey,  Whig,  1830-1834.  Mr.  Gladstone,  Liberal,  1893-1894. 

Lord  Melbourne,  Whig,  1835-1841.  Lord  Rosebery,  Liberal,  1894- 

NINETEENTH  century  England  has  undergone  a  political 
revolution  no  less  significant  than  that  achieved  under  the 
Stuarts.  This  transformation  might  rather  be  termed  an 
evolution  than  a  revolution,  since  it  has  been  wrought  out, 
not  by  civil  war  and  the  overthrow  of  kings,  but  by  the 
more  peaceful  and  permanent  method  of  Parliamentary 
legislation  reenforced  by  public  opinion.  The  great  re- 
forms of  the  present  century  would  have  been  impossible  mentary  grant 

in  aid  of 
but  for  the  quickened  intelligence  and  increased  influence  schools,  1833. 

School  alien  d- 

of  the  common  people.    Industrial  betterment  and  popular  »nee  required 

—  -otall  children, 
education  have  inspired  the  masses  with  new   purposes   1870- 

239 


First  Parlia- 


240  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

and  larger  aspirations.  Never,  perhaps,  since  the  fourteenth 
century  has  the  English  nation  been  stirred  to  hopes  so 
eager  and  far-reaching. 

The  democratic  movement  in  England  has  gathered 
animus  from  the  popular  revolutions  that  have  three  times 
in  the  past  hundred  years  convulsed  the  Continent.  In 
1789,  in  1830,  and  again  in  1848,  have  king,  clergy,  and 
aristocracy  been  called  to  account  by  the  people,  and  bidden 
show  cause  why  they  should  monopolize  wealth  and  place 
and  power.  In  France,  in  Spain,  in  Italy,  Belgium,  and 
Germany,  the  old  order  so  challenged  could  make  but  a 
lame  defense.  Overcome  by  superior 
strength,  the  privileged  classes  made  un- 
limited concessions  to  the  demos  whom 
they  could  no  longer  control — concessions 
which  were,  however,  quickly  recalled 
when,  the  strength  of  the  people  being 
spent,  the  forces  of  reaction  were  again 
dominant.  In  every  continental  state, 
political  progress  has  been  spasmodic — 
epochs  of  rapid  advance  being  followed  by 

intervals  of  retrogression.    England,  on 
An  Alarmist. 

the   other   hand,  remote    from   Jacobin 

passion  and  exempt  from  the  devastating  wars  that 
troubled  the  Continent,  was  left  free  to  develop  along 
natural  lines.  The  conservative  temper  of  the  people 
deterred  them  from  rash  innovations,  while  the  real 
services  rendered  by  the  aristocracy  to  their  dependents 
mitigated  the  bitterness  of  class  antagonism.  Without 
revolution,  almost  without  bloodshed,  without  violent 
breach  with  the  old  order,  England  has  achieved  a  govern- 
ment which  is  a  juster  expression  of  the  national  will  than 
that  of  France.  The  best  of  the  medieval  constitution  has 
been  conserved  and  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  present  day. 


Growth  of  Democracy. 


241 


ot 


The  first  effect  produced  by  the  French  Revolution  on 
English  thought  was  a  strong  aversion  to  the  political 
philosophy  that  could  give  birth  to  such  horrors.  A  wave 
of  reaction  passed  over  England,  discrediting  progressive 
statesmen  and  sweeping  all  reform  projects  into  oblivion. 
But  England  could  not  long  remain  ignorant  of  the  deeper 
significance  of  that  tremendous  revolt  of  a  people  against 
its  tyrants.  France  was  indeed  conquered  in  1815,  and  the 
Bourbons  restored,  but  the  great  achievements  of  the  Revo- 
lution were  not  undone.  Just  laws  and  a  liberal  constitu-  w 

Influence  of  the 

tion  were  secured  to  the  people  by  the  very  monarchs  who  Napoleonic 
had  undertaken  the  war  in  behalf  of  Louis  XVI.  During  1793-1815. 
this  same  twenty  years,  the  cause 
of  English  liberty  had  lost  much 
and  gained  nothing.  Absorbed 
in  the  long  struggle  with  Napo- 
leon, the  Tory  ministers  had 
given  little  thought  to  the 
national  well-being.  Enthusiasm 
for  the  war,  pride  in  its  trium- 
phant conclusion  and  in  the  new 
prestige  acquired  by  England, 
the  champion  of  oppressed 
nationalities,  together  with  a  cer- 
tain fictitious  prosperity  accru- 
ing to  trade  and  manufactures, 
had  blinded  men's  eyes  to  the 
heavy  coat  of  the  conflict.  Peace 
once  declared,  the  nation  began 
to  balance  accounts.  The  war 

debt  amounted  to  £831,000,000.    The  financial  stringency 
was  such  that  the  Bank  of  England  suspended  specie  pay- 
ment, and  for  twenty-two  years  the  country  had  to  be  con-  1797-1819. 
tent  with  a  depreciating  currency.    The  consequent  rise  in 


Extinction  of  Napoleon. 


242 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Price  of  wheat 
rose  to  171s.  a 
quarter,  or  $5 
a  bushel,  in 
1812  and   1813. 
None  might  be 
imported  un- 
der 80s.  a  quar- 
ter. 


prices  was  exaggerated  by  the  failure  of  trade  with  the 
Continent  and  by  a  series  of  bad  harvests  which  brought 
corn  up  to  famine  rates.  The  Corn  Laws,  which  protected 
English  agriculture  against  foreign  competition,  were 
vigorously  maintained  by  the  landlord  class  who  secured 
the  lion's  share  of  the  profits.  The  prosperity  of  the  land- 
lord and  the  farmer  was  not  shared,  however,  by  the  agri- 
cultural laborer  who,  during  these  years  of  extraordinary 


Napoleon  in  Chains  following  Britannia's  Triumphal  Car. 

prices,  was  steadily  sinking  into  misery  and  want.  Wages 
fell  below  the  subsistence  level  and  had  to  be  supplemented 
from  the  poor  rates.  At  the  moment  when  England 
attained  the  acme  of  her  military  renown,  her  laboring 
people  were  being  reduced  to  pauperism. 

National  glory  won  at  such  a  cost  was  not  cause  for  con- 
gratulation. Men  were  found  bold  enough  to  assert  that 
while  pursuing  a  crusade  against  Jacobin  violence,  Eng- 
land allowed  more  hateful  cruelties  to  pass  unchallenged 
within  her  own  boundaries.  Might  not  one  cherish  the 
watchwords  proclaimed  by  the  Revolution — liberty,  equal- 
ity, fraternity — while  condemning  its  mad  excesses?  A 
revulsion  of  feeling  characterized  the  second  and  third  de- 
cades of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  writers  of  the  day 
were  the  first  to  recognize  that  the  revolutionary  ideals 
were  far  in  advance  of  English  conceptions  of  justice  and 
right.  Wordsworth,  the  poet  of  the  people,  had  greeted 


Growth  of  Democracy. 


243 


with  rapture  the  birth  of  democracy  in  France,  but  the  gee  Brown- 
violence  of  the  Jacobins  filled  him  with  such  despair  as  to 
chill  his  faith  in  the  ability  of  the  people  for  self-govern- 
ment. Shelley's  democratic  idealism,  could,  however, 
ignore  the  ugly  facts  of  the  Revolution.  Byron,  an  aristo- 
crat by  birth  and  temper,  but  at  war  with  his  order,  struck 


A  Short  Way  with  Corn  Merchants. 


telling  blows  for  freedom  in  his  wild  revolt  against  conven- 
tion and  dogma,  while  Burns,  the  Ayrshire  plowman, 
voiced  the  people's  protest  against  class  inequalities  : 

"  For  a*  that  and  a'  that, 
Our  toil's  obscure,  and  a'  that, 
The  rank  is  but  the  guinea's  stamp, 
The  man's  the  gowd  for  a'  that." 

Democracy  had  yet  more  strenuous   advocates  in   the 

The  Radical 

Radicals.    The  radical  movement  originated  with  Cobbett's  party. 

Name  as- 

"  Weekly  Political  Register,"  a  twopenny  sheet  that  had  sumedin  1819. 

a  wide  circulation  and  enormous  influence  among  the 
working  classes.  The  "  Register  "  voiced  the  prevailing  dis- 
content, and  proposed  reforms  aiming  to  give  the  people 
more  effective  control  of  the  government.  Redistribution 
of  the  representation,  universal  suffrage,  and  annual  Parlia- 
ments were  presented  as  the  necessary  steps  toward  the 


244 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  Hampden 
clubs. 


The  conven- 
tion was  held 
in  St.  Peter's 
Field. 


vindication  of  the  popular  will.  In  order  that  the  unrepre- 
sented people  might  make  their  purpose  felt,  mass  meetings 
were  held,  secret  associations  were  formed,  and  propagand- 
ist literature  scattered  far  and  wide.  The  government, 
unreasonably  suspicious  of  any  popular  movement,  de- 
termined to  crush  the 
malcontents.  A  polit- 
ical demonstration  at 
Spa  Fields  in  1816  was 
broken  up  by  the  po- 
lice.* Three  years  later, 
a  convention  held  in 
Manchester  for  the  pur- 
pose of  electing  a  "  legis- 
latorial  representative  " 
for  that  unenfranchised 
town  was  raided  by  a 
military  force  and  sev- 
enty persons  were  in- 
jured. The  Manchester  Massacre,  or  the  Battle  of  Peterloo, 
as  it  was  derisively  called,  roused  intense  indignation.  It 
was  becoming  every  year  more  evident  that  the  govern- 
ment was  quite  independent  of  the  people  since  Parliament 
represented  only  the  aristocracy  and  the  upper  middle 
classes. 

The  continental  revolutions  of  1830,  which  substituted 
constitutional  for  absolute  monarchy  in  France  and  Bel- 
gium and  several  of  the  German  states,  produced  a  marked 
effect  in  England.  They  seemed  to  prove  that  fundamental 

»A  placard  was  paraded  at  this  meeting  entitled  "The  present  state 
of  Great  Britain." 
"  Four  millions  in  distress ! ! ! 

Four  millions  embarrassed  ! ! ! 

One  million  and  a  half  fear  distress ! ! ! 

Half  a  million  live  in  splendid  luxury ! ! ! 

Our  brothers  in  Ireland  are  in  a  worse  state. 

The  climax  of  misery  is  complete — it  can  go  no  farther. 

Death  would  now  be  a  relief  to  millions." 


Tax  Collectors. 


Growth  of  Democracy. 


245 


reforms  could  be  accomplished  without  anarchy,  and  Eng- 
lishmen began  to  question  whether,  after  all,  their  medie- 
val constitution  might  not  safely  be  modified  to  suit  modern 

needs.    In  the  elections  that  followed  immediately  upon 

J  William  IV. 

the  death  of  George  IV.,  the  Liberals  won  a  signal  victory.   1830-1837. 

The  Tories  lost  fifty  seats  and  Wellington  was  obliged  to 
resign.  Lord  Grey,  who  was  called  to  take  his  place,  had 
been  for  forty  years  the  stanch  champion  of  Parliament- 
ary reform.  A  Reform  Bill  was  framed  by  the  ministry  struggle  for 

Parliamentary 
and  introduced  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  Lord  John  reform. 

Russell  (March  1,1831).  It  provided 
for  the  disfranchisement  of  the  rot- 
ten boroughs,  the  redistribution  of 
seats  among  the  counties  and  hith- 
erto unrepresented  towns,  and  the 
extension  of  the  borough  franchise 
to  all  ten-pound  householders.  The 
bill  was  received  with  derisive 
cheers  from  the  opposition  benches 
and,  though  cordially  endorsed  by 
the  king  and  maintained  by  all  the 
influence  the  ministry  could  bring 
to  bear,  it  was  defeated  on  the  third 

reading  by  a  majority  of  eight.  The  government  deter- 
mined to  have  recourse  to  the  people.  The  dissolution  of 
Parliament  was  declared  by  the  king  in  person  on  April 
22d,  and  through  May  and  June  the  country  rang  with  the 
excitement  of  the  campaign.  The  result  was  even  better 
than  the  government  had  hoped.  When  the  bill  came 
again  to  its  third  reading  (September  21),  it  passed  the 
House  by  a  majority  of  one  hundred  and  nine.  It  had 
still,  however,  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  Peers.  The  Upper 
House  did  not  deign  to  admit  the  bill  to  consideration,  but 
threw  it  out  on  the  first  reading  by  a  majority  of  forty-one. 


Cobbett  on  the  Stump. 


246 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


April  14, 1832. 


May  15, 1832. 


This  haughty  rejection  of  a  measure  which  had  the  enthu- 
siastic support  of  the  great  majority  of  the  nation  by  a 
privileged  and  non-representative  body,  roused  intense  in- 
dignation throughout  the  country.  Political  unions  were 
formed  with  a  view  to  bringing  public  opinion  to  bear  upon 
the  reactionary  legislators.  A 
reform  program  was  announced, 
which  went  so  far  as  to  propose 
the  abolition  of  all  hereditary 
privileges  and  distinctions  of 
rank.  The  Lords  could  not  but 
be  influenced  by  the  popular 
agitation,  violent  and  ill-advised 
though  it  sometimes  was.  When 
the  new  Reform  Bill  came  up 
for  its  second  reading  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  the  ministry 
succeeded  in  obtaining  a  major- 
ity of  nine.  A  motion  to  post- 
pone final  action,  was,  neverthe- 
less, carried.  Driven  to  extremities,  Lord  Grey  appealed 
to  the  king  to  swamp  the  opposing  majority  by  the 
creation  of  Peers.  This  was  refused  and  the  ministry 
resigned.  An  attempt  to  form  a  Conservative  cabinet 
under  the  Duke  of  Wellington  failed.  The  popular  protest 
was  overwhelming.  The  Liberal  papers  came  out  in 
mourning  and  petitions  were  sent  up  to  Parliament 
signed  by  thousands  of  the  unrepresented.  The  unions 
announced  their  determination  to  march  to  London  in 
numbers  sufficient  to  compel  regard  for  the  nation's  will. 
Wellington  dared  not  resort  to  force.  The  military  could 
not  be  trusted  to  fight  against  the  people.  Finally  the 
king  recalled  Lord  Grey  and  sent  a  circular  letter  to 
the  Peers  requesting  them  to  withdraw  their  opposition. 


'Orator"  Hunt. 


Growth  of  Democracy.  247 


So   compelled,   the  House   of  Lords   approved    the   bill.   June  4, 1832. 

The  Reform  Act  was  a  signal  triumph  of  the  popular  will 
over  vested  right  and  hereditary  privilege.  Fifty-six  rotten  let  of6*?™ 
boroughs  were  disfranchised  and  thirty  were  deprived  of 
one  member  each.  The  one  hundred  and  forty-three  mem- 
berships so  vacated  were  divided  between  the  more  populous 
counties  and  thirty-nine  unrepresented  towns.  Thus,  after 
an  interval  of  nearly  two  hundred  years,  the  electoral 
reform  proposed  by  Cromwell  was  resumed.  Representa- 
tion was  not  yet,  however,  exactly  proportioned  to  pop- 
ulation. Universal  suffrage  and  annual  Parliaments  were 
not  even  broached ;  but  the  people  had  got  a  foothold  in 
the  House  of  Commons  and  might  bide  their  time.  The 
Reform  Act  of  1832  transferred  the  balance  of  power  from 
the  landed  aristocracy  to  the  manufacturers  and  merchants 
— the  dominant  classes  of  newly  enfranchised  towns.  The 
populace,  though  it  had  borne  the  brunt  of  the  agitation, 
was  not  yet  entrusted  with  the  ballot.  But  fifty  Radicals 
were  returned  to  the  new  Parliament.  With  the  change 
in  the  character  of  representation  and  the  consequent 
change  of  policy,  new  party  names  were  adopted.  The 
Whigs,  dominated  henceforth  by  the  progressive  contin- 
gent, called  themselves  Liberals ;  while  the  Tories,  con- 
ceiving their  function  to  be  the  preservation  of  a  time-hon- 
ored constitution,  preferred  to  be  known  as  Conservatives. 

The  reforms  undertaken  by  the  first  Parliament  elected 
on  the  new  basis  were  directed  by  middle  class  interests 
and  fell  far  short  of  popular  expectation.  An  act  was 
passed  (1833)  emancipating  the  slaves  on  the  West  Indian 
plantations,  but  with  heavy  compensation  to  their  owners. 
The  Poor  Law  was  revised  (1834)  with  a  view  to  checking 
the  growth  of  pauperism.  The  new  act  was  based  on  the 
wholesome  principles  of  the  Elizabethan  Law,  but  it  was 
bitterly  resented  by  the  working  classes  accustomed,  for  a 


248  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

century  past,  to  regard  parish  aid  as  a  poor  man's  right. 
More  popular  measures,  e.  g.,  the  Factory  Act  (1833)  and 
the  reform  in  municipal  government  (1835),  were  not  ini- 
tiated in  the  House  of  Commons,  but  were  forced  upon  its 
notice  by  public  agitation. 

Beneficent  and  necessary  as  was  much  of  this  legislation, 
it  did  not  remove  the  sense  of  grievance  from  the  minds  of 
the  common  people.  They  had  supported  the  Reform  Act 
in  the  hope  that  it  was  but  the  preliminary  to  more  radical 
legislation.  The  bulk  of  the  Liberal  party  was,  however, 
well  content  with  the  results  attained.  Lord  John  Russell 
declared  in  the  first  Parliament  convened  after  the  acces- 

victoria.  1837.  sion  of  Victoria  that  reform  could  not  safely  be  pushed 
further.  The  disappointment  and  indignation  of  the  Radi- 
cals was  intense.  Convinced  that  the  people  would  never 
get  their  rights  till  they  could  send  spokesmen  to  the 
House  of  Commons,  they  entered  with  renewed  zeal  upon 
a  crusade  for  popular  representation.  A  conference  be- 

Chartism.  tween  certain  prominent  Radicals  and  the  working-class 

leaders  was  called  in  1838,  and  a  program  for  the  new 
campaign  agreed  upon.  The  "six  points  "  of  the  People's 
Charter  were  :  (1)  annual  Parliaments,  (2)  manhood  suf- 
frage, (3)  vote  by  ballot,  (4)  the  division  of  the  country  into 
equal  electoral  districts,  (5)  abolition  of  the  property  quali- 
fication for  members  of  the  Lower  House,  (6)  salaries  for  the 
people's  representatives.  The  Chartists,  as  the  agitators 
called  themselves,  advocated  Parliamentary  reform  only  as 
means  to  an  end.  The  exact  nature  of  that  end  was  as  yet 
undefined.  Socialistic,  even  anarchistic,  schemes  were  in 
the  air  and  awakened  consternation  among  the  propertied 
and  order-loving  classes.  Malcontents,  on  the  other  hand, 
of  whatever  shade  of  belief,  were  naturally  attracted  to  the 
ranks  of  the  reformers.  "  Universal  suffrage,"  said  a  Radi- 
cal orator,  "  the  meaning  of  universal  suffrage  is  that  every 


Growth  of  Democracy.  249 

working  man  in  the  land  has  a  right  to  a  good  coat,  a  good 
hat,  a  good  roof,  a  good  dinner,  no  more  work  than  will 
keep  him  in  health,  and  as  much  wages  as  will  keep  him  in 
plenty." 

No  effective  means  of  propagating  the  new  gospel  was 
neglected.  Newspapers  and  local  organizations  were  main- 
tained in  every  principal  town.  Mass  meetings  were  called 
at  frequent  intervals,  and  in  1839  the  Chartists  held  a  na- 
tional convention.  A  huge  petition  was  sent  to  the  House  of 
Commons  bearing  1,200,000  signatures.  The  contemptuous 
rejection  of  the  petition  was  followed  by  riotous  outbreaks 
in  divers  parts  of  the  kingdom.  A  second  petition  was  pre- 
sented in  1842  and  met  with  a  like  fate.  This  time  the 
petitioners,  some  3,000,000  men,  demanded  not  only  the 
"six  points,"  but  the  repeal  of  all  class  legislation,  the 
abolition  of  monopolies  and  the  redistribution  of  property. 
Demonstrations  and  riots  grew  so  serious  that  even  the 
Tory  ministry  recognized  that  something  must  be  done. 
The  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws  had  long  been  advocated  by  Rg  Qf  the 
enlightened  Liberals,  who  held  that  the  interests  of  the 
great  manufacturing  communities  ought  not  to  be  subor- 


dinated  to  that  of  the  landlord  class.    The  Irish  famine   Law  Chimes," 

in  the  Interest 

brought  matters  to  a  crisis.  Early  in  1846  Sir  Robert  Peel,  of  repeal. 
much  to  the  scandal  of  the  Tories  who  thought  him  a 
traitor,  and  of  the  Liberals  who  accused  him  of  stealing 
their  thunder,  proposed  a  Corn  Bill  which  provided  for  a 
rapid  reduction  of  duties  on  imported  grains.  Despite  the 
protests  of  disappointed  politicians,  it  passed  both  Houses, 
and  England  was  thereby  committed  to  the  policy  of  free 
trade.  Wheat  fell  to  seventy-five  shillings  a  quarter,  and  the 
ruinous  fluctuation  in  prices  ceased.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  removal  of  the  tax  on  grains  greatly  relieved  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  poor,  but  it  was  scouted  by  the  Chartists  as  a  mere 
sop  to  Cerberus.  They  were  bent  on  popular  government. 


250 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  year  1848  witnessed  a  second  epidemic  of  revolutions 
throughout  the  Continent.  Not  only  France,  Germany, 
and  Italy,  but  Austria,  the  stronghold  of  despotism,  was 
convulsed  by  the  upheaval.  Paris,  the  city  of  insurrec-- 
Chartist  demon-  tions,  was  mastered  by  the  combined  strength  of  Republi- 
cans  and  socialists  and  a  working-class  republic  was  estab- 
lished. This  signal  success  of  their  brothers  across  the 
water  could  not  but  stir  the  English  Chartists  to  new  ex- 
ertions. The  democratic  movement  came  to  a  head.  A 
national  convention  was  called  at  London,  April  sixth, 
and  arrangements  were  made  for  a  mighty  demonstration 
of  the  popular  will.  A  monster  petition,  boasting  5,000,000 
signatures,  was  to  be  carried  to  Westminster  on  the  tenth, 
by  a  body  of  500,000  men.  The  government  was,  however, 
amply  forewarned.  The  Duke  of  Wellington  was  put  in 
charge  of  the  defense,  and  competent  arrangements  were 
made  to  suppress  disorder.  The  Chartists  were  at  odds 
among  themselves  as  to  whether  they  should  or  should  not 
use  force.  The  more  timid  and  level-headed  among  them 
withdrew  from  a  project  which  could  only  result  in  failure 
or  defeat.  Some  25,000  finally  gathered  on  Kennington 
Common,  but  they  were  frightened  by  the  force  arrayed 
against  them  and  meekly  consented  to  send  their  petition 
to  the  House  of  Commons  in  a  cab.  When  submitted  to 
examination,  the  5,000,000  signatures  dwindled  to  2,000,000, 
many  of  these  evidently  bogus.  So  the  most  formidable 
working-class  movement  England  has  yet  seen  ended  in 
fiasco.  When  brought  to  the  test,  Chartism  proved  to  be  a 
mere  wind-bag  blown  to  portentous  dimensions  by  dema- 
gogues and  would-be  politicians.  Yet  the  agitation  had  its 

valuable  results.   The  people  were  trained  to  think,  to  search 

^ 

for  the  causes  of  their  misery,  to  look  for  legislative  reform. 

The  "  classes"  were  compelled  to  inquire  into  the  condition 
of  the  "masses,"  to  recognize  their  own  responsibility  for 


Permanent 
results. 


Growth  of  Democracy.  251 

the  national  well-being,  and  to  set  about  measures  of  re- 
dress. The  essential  clauses  of  the  Charter  have  since 
been  attained — not  by  insurrections  and  mob  violence,  but 
by  the  characteristically  English  method  of  free  discussion 
and  Parliamentary  enactment. 

The  Chartists  failed,  but  the  advocacy  of  Parliamentary 
reform  was  taken  up  by  the  Liberal  party.  Extension  of  the 
suffrage  was  repeatedly  recommended  in  the  queen's  speech, 
and  bills  proposing  to  lower  the  franchise  were  introduced 
in  the  House  of  Commons  in  1851,  1859,  and  1860.     Not, 
however,  till  the  death  of  Palmerston  left  the  more  pro- 
gressive element  of  the  Liberal  party  in  the  ascendant,  was 
the  work  of  reform  undertaken  in  earnest.    Immediately  struggle  for 
upon  his  accession  to  the  premiership,  Lord  Russell,  the  theesuffrag°eied 
life-long  champion  of  suffrage  extension,  framed  a  measure  by  Gladst<?ne. 
on  which  he  staked  the  success  of  his  administration.    The 
measure  was  introduced  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  Mr. 
Gladstone,  a  young  Peelite,  lately  turned  Liberal.    He  de- 
fended the  bill  with  remarkable  eloquence  and  was  ably 
supported  by  the  free  trade  Radical,  John  Bright.    But  the  The  discon. 
measure  was  a  timid  makeshift  and  failed  to  secure  the  |f°,Jb<!dWere 
support  of  the  Liberals  themselves.     It  was  defeated  in 
committee  and  Lord  Russell's  government  immediately 
resigned. 

The  new  ministry  under  Lord  Derby  was  made  up  of 
stiff  Conservatives,  but  they  found  themselves  forced  by 
public  feeling  to  broach  the  question  of  the  suffrage.  A 
Reform  League  was  formed  by  the  Radicals  and  working- 
class  leaders,  who  plainly  signified  a  determination  not  to 
be  defrauded  of  their  rights  by  factious  politicians.  The 
country  was  agitated  by  popular  demonstrations,  such  as 
had  extorted  the  first  Reform  Act.  An  attempt  to  hold  a 
mass  meeting  in  Hyde  Park  resulted  in  something  very 
like  a  riot.  Having  no  choice  but  to  bring  in  a  reform  bill 


252 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Reform  Act. 


The  Irish 
Question. 


or  to  resign  office,  the  ministry  finally  yielded.  The  meas- 
ure originally  introduced  by  Disraeli  was  meant  to  provide 
against  throwing  the  balance  of  power  into  the  hands  of 
the  masses  ;  but  the  bill  was  amended  again  and  again,  the 
government  yielding  point  by  point,  until  it  emerged  a 
more  radical  measure  than  the  Liberals  themselves  would 
have  proposed.  Borough  suffrage  was  extended  to  all 
householders  paying  taxes  and  to  all  lodgers  paying  £10 
annual  rent.  In  the  counties  all  persons  owning  property 
of  £5  annual  value  and  occupiers  paying  £12  a  year  were 
entitled  to  vote.  This  was  the  legalization  of  democracy. 
Lord  Derby  characterized  the  measure  as  a  "leap  in  the 
dark,"  and  many  other  Conservatives  feared  for  the  result ; 
but  the  party  as  a  whole  supported  the  measure,  having,  as 
Disraeli  said,  "  been  educated  by  events." 

The  history  of  English  politics,  during  the  past  twenty- 
five  years,  is  hardly  intelligible  without  some  comprehen- 
sion of  the  Irish  question.  Since  Cromwell's  conquest  of 
Ireland  established  English  rule,  the  relations  between  the 
two  races  have  been  strained  and  unhappy.  The  English 
mind  was  naturally  filled  with  distrust  of  Ireland,  the  main- 
tainer  of  the  Stuarts  and  Roman  Catholicism,  while  the 
Irish  people  had  abundant  reason  to  fear  and  hate  their  con- 
querors. Irish  estates  were  confiscated  and  made  over  to 
English  landlords.  Irish  industries  were  systematically 
discouraged,  the  manufacture  of  woolens  being  prohibited 
and  trade  being  limited  to  such  produce  as  did  not  come 
into  competition  with  English  goods.  Penal  laws  were 
enacted  banishing  Catholic  priests,  obliging  all  subjects  to 
attend  Protestant  worship,  and  requiring  that  children  of 
Catholic  parents  should  be  educated  by  Protestant  teachers. 
Though  Roman  Catholics  formed  three  fourths  of  the  popu- 
lation, they  were  ineligible  to  office.  The  Act  of  Union  re- 
dressed none  of  these  wrongs,  while  it  deprived  Ireland  of 


Growth  of  Democracy.  253 

the  last  vestige  of  self-government,  her  national  Parlia- 
ment. Under  the  terms  of  the  Union,  the  two  Parliaments 
were  united  at  Westminster,  thirty-two  Irish  peers,  four 
spiritual  and  twenty-eight  temporal,  being  added  to  the 
House  of  Lords,  while  one  hundred  representatives  of  the 
Irish  counties  and  boroughs  were  to  sit  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  The  Union  was  meant  to  secure  to  Ireland  a 
non-sectarian  government  and  legislation  uniform  with 
that  for  England  and  Scotland  ;  but  the  Irish  people  have 
never  ceased  to  protest  against  it,  and  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury has  been  occupied  by  persistent  effort  to  attain  politi- 
cal independence.  Agitation  first  took  the  form  of  a 
demand  for  the  removal  of  political  disabilities.  The 
Catholic  Association  was  organized  £o  this  end,  aud  petition 
after  petition  was  sent  up  to  Parliament.  The  successive 
Tory  governments  held  out  against  popular  pressure  until 
1829,  when  Peel  declared  for  emancipation  and  carried  a  catholic  Eman- 
bill  providing  that  a  Roman  Catholic  who  would  take  oath  1^9. 101 
to  support  the  State  and  not  to  injure  the  Church  should  be 
eligible  to  office.  This  was  an  important  concession,  but  it 
did  not  satisfy  the  Irish  leaders.  Admitted  to  Parliament, 
they  continued  to  agitate,  and  that  with  renewed  vigor,  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Act  of  Union.  "  Young  Ireland,"  the 
political  organization  formed  by  O'Connell,  gained  im- 
mense influence  with  the  people.  Monster  mass  meetings  repeai  of  the 
were  held  after  the  fashion  of  the  contemporary  Chartist  cvconnell, y 

1829-1843 

demonstrations,  French  aid  was  solicited,  and  a  formida- 
ble insurrection  seemed  imminent.  The  government  had 
resort  to  coercion,  forbade  the  political  conventions,  ar- 
rested and  transported  the  ring-leaders.  Ireland  was  in  a 
fair  way  to  be  subdued  by  physical  force  when  the  famine 
of  1846  gave  a  new  turn  to  the  struggle.  Thousands  of  the 
helpless  people  died  of  starvation,  thousands  more,  evicted 
by  the  landlords,  to  whom  they  could  pay  no  rent,  drifted 


254 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Population  of 
Ireland  in 
1841,  8,175,124 ; 
in  1851,  6,552,- 
385. 


Disestablish- 
ment of  the 
Protestant 
Church  in  Ire- 
land.   1869. 


into  pauperism,  those  who  had  money  to  buy  passage  took 
ship  for  America.  The  population  decreased  by  a  million 
and  a  half  in  these  years  of  unparalleled  misery.  Ireland 
was  silenced,  but  her  cause  was  urged  with  redoubled  energy 
by  her  loyal  sons  in  America.  The  Fenians,  as  this  Irish- 
American  party  called  themselves,  did  not  stop  at  repeal 
of  the  Union.  They  advocated  nothing  less  than  complete 
separation.  The  project  was  too  wild  to  meet  with  a  large 
measure  of  support,  and  the  movement,  in  spite  of  its  bril- 
liant leadership,  proved  abortive.  Fenianism  had,  how- 
ever, effected  an  important  change  in  English  opinion.  It 
had  become  apparent  even  to  partisan  observers  that  condi- 
tions giving  rise  to  such  persistent  hatred  must  be  seriously 
wrong.  Coercion  had  been  maintained  for  thirty-five  years 
without  avail.  Why  not  try  the  effect  of  reform  ? 

The  Liberal  party  led  by  Gladstone  accepted  the  task  of 
ascertaining  the  actual  situation  and  endeavoring  to  meet 
Irish  discontent  with  adequate  measures  of  relief.  In 
pursuance  of  this  policy,  the  Liberal  leaders  have  been  led 
to  propose  three  successive  measures  of  reform,  viz.,  the 
disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church,  the  modification  of 
land  laws  in  the  interest  of  the  tenant,  and  the  restoration 
of  the  Irish  Parliament.  The  initial  measure  was  introduced 
by  Mr.  Gladstone  in  the  first  Parliament  elected  on  the 
reformed  basis  in  1868.  The  Liberals  were  in  the  ascendant 
and  the  bill  passed  the  Commons  by  a  majority  of  one 
hundred.  Indeed,  it  was  difficult  to  find  ground  for  de- 
fense of  the  Episcopal  establishment  in  Ireland.  Its 
annual  income  from  tithes  and  ecclesiastical  lands  was 
£600,000,  yet  it  ministered  to  not  more  than  one  tenth  of 
the  population.  An  Irish  member  declared  that  he  paid 
tithes  in  eight  parishes,  in  not  one  of  which  was  there  a 
church  or  a  resident  clergyman.  The  exclusive  privileges 
of  the  Anglican  Church  were  a  direct  affront  to  the  Roman 


Growth  of  Democracy.  255 

Catholic  population  obliged  to  contribute  to  its  support. 
The  bill  was,   nevertheless,  hotly  debated  in  the  House 
of  Lords  and  amended  so  as  to  secure  larger  compensation 
to  the  disestablished  clergy.    The  House  of  Commons  in- 
sisted on  the  original  form  and  the  Lords  were  forced  to 
accept  a  compromise  not  at  all  to  their  liking.    The  dis- 
establishment of  the  Protestant  Church  in  Ireland  was  The  Irish 
quickly  followed  by  the  Land  Bill,  which  provided  that  i^Act' 
the   so-called  "Ulster   right,"  the   form  of  land   tenure 
customary    in    the   northern   counties,    should    be   legal 
throughout  Ireland.    This  beneficent  measure  secured  not 
only  the  three  ufs,"  fair  rent,  fixity  of  tenure,  and  free 
sale  of  the  tenants'  interest  in  improvements,  but  enabled 
the  tenants  to  purchase  their  holdings  with  money  loaned 
by  the  government.     In  the  Irish  University  Bill,  Mr.   Irish  Dniver. 
Gladstone  went  a  step  too  far  and  lost  his  Parliamentary  fg^8111' 
majority.     The  object  of  the  measure  was  to  remove  re- 
ligious tests  and  provide  a  non-sectarian  education  for  all 
who  desired  to  avail  themselves  of  it.    It  was  opposed  by 
the  priests  who  objected  to  secular  education  and  by  a  large 
body  of  the  Liberals  who  dreaded  Roman  Catholic  ascend- 
ency.    Gladstone  dissolved  Parliament  and  appealed  to  the 
country.     The  elections  of  1874  gave  the  Conservatives  a   Defeat  of  Glad- 
majority  of  fifty,  and  Gladstone  had  no  choice  but  to  resign.   fst^f. 

This  sudden  and  overwhelming  defeat  of  a  reform  minis- 
try so  soon  after  the  extension  of  the  suffrage  seems  at  first 
inexplicable.  Gladstone's  government  had  fulfilled  all  its 
pledges.  In  addition  to  the  legislation  having  special 
reference  to  Ireland,  Parliament  had  provided  for  national 
compulsory  education  and  a  secret  ballot,  had  opened  the 
civil  service  to  public  competition,  had  abolished  the  pur- 
chase of  commissions  in  the  army,  and  introduced  a  bill 
for  the  reform  of  the  law  courts.  The  reaction  in  favor  of 
conservatism  had  originated  not  in  the  failure  of  the  Liberal 


256 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Disraeli,  Lord 
Beaconsfield. 


Jingoism. 


party  to  achieve  the  proposed  reforms,  but  in  the  constitu- 
tional inability  of  the  English  nation  to  digest  so  rich  and 
varied  a  m6nu.  Reform  had  gone  too  fast  and  too  far.  The 
national  temper,  essentially  conservative,  shrank  from 
such  rapid  change.  Disraeli's  denunciation  of  Gladstone's 
policy  expressed  the  sentiment  of  the  country.  "  You 
have  had  four  years  of  it ;  you  have  despoiled  churches, 
you  have  threatened  every  corporation  and  endowment  in 
the  country,  you  have  examined  into  everybody's  affairs, 
you  have  criticized  every  profession  and  vexed  every  trade, 
no  one  is  certain  of  his  property,  no  one  knows  what  duties 
he  may  have  to  perform  to-morrow. '?  Furthermore  the 
Liberal  government,  in  its  zeal  for  domestic  improvement, 
had  somewhat  neglected  foreign  affairs.  In  India  and  in 
Africa,  English  interests  were  threatened,  and  the  govern- 
ment, preferring  negotiation  to  war,  had  pursued  a  policy 
repugnant  to  the  national  pride. 

Disraeli  succeeded  to  the  premiership  in  1874,  pledged  to 
maintain  the  domestic  status  quo  and  to  vindicate  the 
national  honor  in  foreign  fields.  The  Russo-Turkish  War 
gave  the  new  government  an  opportunity  to  show  its  aggres- 
sive foreign  policy.  Russia's  rapid  successes  and  temperate 
use  of  her  victory  rendered  it  unnecessary  for  England  to 
proceed  to  war ;  but  national  excitement  ran  high  and  the 
Mustering  policy  of  the  government  was  warmly  approved.* 
In  relation  to  internal  affairs,  Beaconsfield's  government 
was  less  successful.  The  Conservative  party  expressed  a 
benevolent  concern  for  the  well-being  of  the  laborer,  and 
certain  members,  at  least,  showed  a  strong  disposition  to 
legislate  in  the  direction  of  technical  schools,  public  pro- 
vision, for  recreation,  rural  artisans'  dwellings,  an  eight- 

«  Popular  sentiment  was  voiced  and  a  term  for  the  ministerial  policy 
suggested  in  a  street  song  of  the  day. 

"  We  don't  want  to  flght,  but  by  jingo,  if  we  do. 
We've  got  the  ships,  we've  got  the  men, 
And  we've  got  the  money  too." 


Isaac  Butt  and 


Growth  of  Democracy.  257 

hour  day,  etc.;  but  the  government  was  resolved  to  move 
slowly,  and  little  was  accomplished  beyond  an  Agricultural 
Holdings  Act,  securing  compensation  for  improvements 
to  English  tenants,  and  the  Laborers'  Dwellings  Act  which 
empowered  town  corporations  to  purchase  land  and  erect 
buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  workmen's  families. 

Toward  Irish  discontent  the  government  showed  an  un- 
compromising severity.  The  recent  reforms,  liberal  and 
thoroughgoing  though  they  were,  had  apparently  not 
reached  the  root  of  the  difficulty.  Agitation  increased 
with  every  concession.  Hardly  had  the  Land  Bill  become 
law  when  the  Irish  party,  under  the  lead  of  Isaac  Butt, 

brought  forward  a  demand  for  Home  Rule.    The  new  leader  ^e  demand  for 

Home  Rule, 
declared  that  Ireland  could  no  longer  consent  to  receive 

her  laws  at  the  hands  of  a  Parliament,  the  great  majority  of 
whose  members  were  Englishmen  and  Scotchmen.  She 
must  have  an  independent  legislature,  but  wished  to  retain 
such  relations  to  the  British  Parliament  as  an  American 
commonwealth  bears  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  To  the  impartial  outsider  there  appears  to  be 
nothing  unreasonable  in  this  proposal.  It  would  indeed 
seem  expedient  that  not  only  Ireland,  but  Wales  and  Scot- 
land, should  have  local  parliaments,  and  that  the  four 
originally  independent  kingdoms  should  form  a  federal 
tinioii  after  the  American  plan.  The  several  interests  are 
as  diverse  as  those  of  our  states,  and  would  be  better  served 
by  sectional  legislation.  Moreover,  the  mass  of  business 
involved  in  the  care  of  domestic,  colonial,  and  foreign  in- 
terests augments  from  year  to  year.  It  already  exceeds  the 
capacity  of  a  single  legislative  assembly.  To  relieve  Parlia- 
ment of  local  legislation  would  greatly  facilitate  the  con- 
duct of  imperial  affairs.  Nevertheless,  the  demand  for 
Home  Rule  met  with  small  favor  among  Englishmen. 
Race  prejudice  lent  weight  to  the  argument  that  an  Irish 


258  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

Parliament  could  not  be  trusted  to  deal  fairly  with  the 
Protestants  or  the  landed  interests  involved.    Controlling 
but  a  small  minority  (fifty  or  sixty  members)  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  the  Nationalist  faction  remained  in  sulky 
isolation  until  Parnell  taught  them  how  to  compel  atteu- 
Parneiiand         tion.     Charles  Stuart  Parnell,  a  man  of  cool  head  and 
stniction.  steady  nerve  and  an  expert  parliamentarian,  succeeded  to 

the  leadership  of  his  party  in  1877.  His  policy  was,  in  one 
word,  obstruction.  The  House  of  Commons  was  to  be 
hindered  in  the  prosecution  of  any  and  every  measure 
until  Irish  interests  were  considered.  By  moving  amend- 
ments and  forcing  divisions,  by  making  interminable 
speeches  and  dragging  in  irrelevant  issues,  the  ordinary 
course  of  business  was  effectually  checked.  In  despair  of 
getting  anything  done,  the  government  resorted  to  extreme 
measures.  Parnell  and  other  unruly  members  were  cen- 

e.  ff.,  the  clo-       sured  by  the  House,  and  rules  were  adopted  enabling  the 

sure,  a  method 

«f  cutting  off     Speaker  to  coerce  an  obstinate  minority.    Nevertheless,  the 

ing  for  the         obstructionists  succeeded  so  far  as  to  bring  upon  the  gov- 
previous  ques- 
tion, ernment  the  charge  of  timid  inefficiency. 

Parliament  was  dissolved  and  new  elections  were  held  in 
the  spring  of  1880.    Beaconsfield  appealed  to  the  country 
for  support  on  the  ground  that  the  Conservative  party 
could  alone  be  trusted  to  maintain  England's  ascendency 
in  the  councils  of  Europe  or  to  defend  the  empire  against 
threatening  disintegration.    The  Liberal  platform,  on  the 
other  hand,  announced  an  "anti-jingo"  foreign  policy,  pro- 
gressive domestic  legislation,  redress  for  Irish  grievances, 
but  firm  and  consistent  resistance  to  Home  Rule.    The 
election  results  showed  that  the  tide  had  turned.    The  Lib- 
elections  of         erals  secured  a  clear  majority  of  fifty-five,  and  Gladstone 
1880. 
Liberais,355;      was  free  to  inaugurate  a  program  of  reform.     Campaign 

238;  Nation-  '  pledges  were  redeemed  in  the  Irish  Land  Act  (1881)  which 
provided  that  rents  should  be  fixed  by  land  courts,  and  in 


Growth  of  Democracy.  259 

the  Reform  Act  (1884)  which  further  extended  the  suffrage 
to  the  agricultural  laborers.     The  county  franchise  was 
now  made  identical  with  that  of  the  boroughs  and  all  Reform  Act. 
adult  males  paying  £10  room  or  house  rent  were  entrusted  l884' 
with  the  ballot.    The  manhood  suffrage  demanded  by  the   pom  flfths  of 
Chartists  was  thus  practically  secured.     Another  of  the 
"six  points,"  equal  electoral  districts,  was  attained  in  the 
same  act.    Counties  and  boroughs  are  now  divided  into 
election  divisions  containing  from  50,000  to  60,000  voters 
each.    Each  returns  but  one  member  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. 

Gladstone  had  amply  fulfilled  his  promise  of  internal 
reform,  but  he  failed  a  second  time  to  meet  the  approval  of 
the  people  in  the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs.  A  vote  of  cen- 
sure on  the  Egyptian  policy  of  the  government  failed  by 
only  fourteen  votes,  and  in  June  of  1885  the  ministry  was 
defeated  on  an  amendment  to  the  tax  bill.  Lord  Salis- 
bury was  called  to  the  prime  ministry,  but  the  Conserva- 
tives were  not  strong  enough  to  hold  their  own  unaided. 
Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  the  leader  of  the  "  fourth  party," 
as  the  progressive  Tories  were  called,  was  summoned  to  the 
cabinet.  The  Conservative  party  was  thus  committed  to 
various  projects  for  social  and  industrial  improvement  little 
akin  to  its  former  policy.  Churchill,  furthermore,  nego- 
tiated an  alliance  with  the  Nationalists,  always  ready  to 
cast  in  their  lot  with  either  party  that  showed  any  inclina- 
tion to  concede  Home  Rule.  Thus,  by  currying  favor  with 
Tory  reformers  and  Irish  Home  Rulers,  the  government 
was  enabled  to  control  a  majority  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, but  little  important  business  was  put  through.  Both 
parties  were  making  ready  for  a  critical  campaign. 

In  the  coming  elections  the  agricultural  laborers  were  to 
cast  their  first  ballots  and  no  man  could  surmise  how  their 
vote  would  affect  the  political  future.  The  ministry  relied 


260 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Elections  of 
1885. 


The  Home  Rule 
Bill,  April  8, 

1886. 


on  the  influence  of  the  clergy  and  the  landed  gentry  to  keep 
the  rustics  under  party  control,  but  the  opposition  candi- 
dates drew  glowing  pictures  of  the  benefits  to  be  expected 
from  a  Liberal  administration.  Laborers'  allotments,  free 
schools,  reform  in  local  government,  disestablishment  of 
the  Scotch  Church,  these  and  other  legislative  tid-bits, 
Gladstone's  more  radical  followers  did  not  hesitate  to  offer. 
The  unnatural  alliance  between  Conservatives  and  Home 
Ruler  was  maintained  through  the  campaign.  Parnell 
instructed  his  party  to  vote  Conservative  wherever  there 
was  no  Nationalist  candidate.  The  result  of  the  elections 
abundantly  justified  his  tactics.  The  Liberals  secured  333 
seats,  the  Conservatives  251,  but  Ireland,  outside  of  Ulster 
county,  had  gone  solid  for  Home  Rule.  Parnell  could 
count  on  eighty-six  members  and  could  by  uniting  forces 
with  the  ministry  outvote  the  opposition.  He  had,  there- 
fore, the  balance  of  power  in  his  hands,  and  was  in  a 
position  to  extort  concessions.  Gladstone  was  directly  con- 
verted to  Home  Rule.  The  result  of  the  elections  was  no 
sooner  known  than  he  issued  a  manifesto  favoring  the 
Nationalist  claims.  The  opportunity  to  introduce  a  Home 
Rule  Bill  was  soon  vouchsafed  him.  In  an  amendment  to 
the  address,  the  government  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of  329 
to  258.  Nationalists  and  Radicals  voted  with  the  opposi- 
tion, while  a  few  dissentient  Liberals  joined  the  Conserva- 
tive ranks. 

Gladstone's  Home  Rule  Bill  provided  for  the  establish- 
ment in  Ireland  of  a  separate  executive  government  solely 
responsible  to  a  legislature  sitting  in  Dublin  and  em- 
powered to  deal  with  all  non-imperial  business.  Irish 
representation  in  the  British  Parliament  was  to  be  discon- 
tinued. It  was  closely  followed  by  the  Land  Purchase  Bill 
designed  to  enable  Irish  tenants  to  buy  up  their  holdings 
by  means  of  a  loan  from  the  imperial  government.  This 


Ch-owth  of  Democracy.  261 

complete  surrender  to  the  demands  of  the  Nationalist  fac- 
tion roused  intense  indignation  throughout  England.  Not 
even  such  popularity  as  Gladstone's  could  survive  the  storm 
of  abuse  heaped  upon  the  author  of  this  "  scheme  of  dis- 
integration." The  "  grand  old  man  "  was  denounced  as  a 
political  turncoat,  a  traitor  to  his  party  and  to  his  country. 
His  change  of  front  was  no  more  reprehensible  than  Peel's 
desertion  of  the  Corn  Laws  in  1846,  but  Home  Rule  was  a 
more  contentious  issue  since  it  challenged  race  feeling. 
The  breach  occasioned  in  the  Liberal  party  was  deep  and 
irreparable.  The  seceders,  under  the  lead  of  Lord  Hart- 
ington  and  Mr.  Goshen  (Whigs),  Joseph  Chamberlain  and 
John  Bright  (Radicals),  called  themselves  Liberal  Union- 
ists, but  joined  forces  with  the  Conservatives  who  now 
declared  that  the  Irish  question  could  only  be  settled  by 
coercion.  With  forces  so  depleted  Gladstone  could  not 
carry  his  measure  and  the  Home  Rule  Bill  was  voted  down  June7  188g 
341  to  311.  The  only  chance  of  success  was  an  appeal  to 
the  country.  In  the  elections  of  July,  1886,  the  Conserva- 
tives had  an  easy  victory  in  the  English  constituencies,  but  Elections  of 

Ireland,  Scotland,  and  Wales  stood  loyally  by  Gladstone   The  popular 

vote  in  favor 
and  Home  Rule.    The  Conservatives  returned  316  members,   of  Home  Rule 

the  Liberal  Unionists  74,  the  Gladstone  Liberals  196,  the   land,  4%  to  l : 
Parnellites  84.    The  defeat  was  so  decisive  that  Gladstone   to  l ;  in  Wales, 
resigned,  and  Salisbury  was  summoned  to  form  a  ministry 
before  Parliament  convened. 

In  the  autumn  of  '86  the  Conservatives  entered  upon  a 
long  lease  of  power.  The  six  years  of  their  administration 
was  marked  by  no  legislation  of  first  importance  except  the 
Local  Government  Act.  By  this  measure,  the  anti-Home 
Rule  ministry  undertook  to  meet  the  demand  for  self- 
government  by  establishing  county  councils  elected  by  the 
freeholders  and  responsible  for  all  purely  local  business. 
The  defeat  of  Home  Rule  occasioned  a  series  of  riotous 


262 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Election  returns 
of  1892. 

Gladstonians, 
271 ;  National- 
ists, 81 ;  Labor 
party,  4 ;  Con- 
servatives, 268; 
Liberal  Union- 
ists, 46. 


The  second 
Home  Rule  Bill 
thrown  out  by 
the  Lords. 


outbreaks  in  Ireland  which  the  government  put  down  with 
a  strong  hand.  England,  on  the  contrary,  was  well  con- 
tent with  the  decision,  and  the  Conservative  party  seemed 
securely  intrenched  within  an  insurmountable  bulwark  of 
national  prejudice. 

Signs  of  reaction,  however,  began  soon  to  be  discerned 

in  working-class  quarters. 
A  new  party  had  arisen. 
Social  and  industrial  ques- 
tions were  pressing  for 
solution  and  a  Conserva- 
tive government  could 
hardly  be  expected  to  give 
them  adequate  treatment. 
Propositions  for  an  eight- 
hour  day,  for  land-tenure 
reform,  for  repeal  of  the 
Septennial  Act,  for  pay- 
ment of  members  of  Parlia- 
ment, were  rejected,  to  the 
great  indignation  of  the 
people.  Under  the  pressure 
brought  to  bear  by  pop- 
ular feeling,  the  ministerial  ranks  thinned  until  Sal- 
isbury could  no  longer  be  sure  of  his  majority  and  dis- 
solved Parliament.  The  election  returns  of  June,  1892, 
reversed  the  verdict  given  in  1886.  Gladstonians  and 
Nationalists  combined  could  boast  a  majority  of  forty- 
two,  and  the  Conservative  government  was  readily  de- 
feated by  an  amendment  to  the  address.  The  Home  Rule 
Bill,  spite  of  dissensions  in  the  Nationalist  ranks,  passed 
the  House  of  Commons  by  a  vote  of  347  to  304,  but  it 
met  with  unexpected  defeat  in  the  Upper  House.  Since 
Lord  Grey  forced  the  first  Reform  Bill  through  the  House 


Lord  Salisbury  Rejects  the 
People's  Bills. 


Growth  of  Democracy. 


263 


of  Lords,  that  honorable  body  had  not  ventured  to  reject  a 
measure  sent  up  from  the  House  of  Commons  and  endorsed 
by  popular  support.  It  was  generally  supposed  that  its  veto 
power,  like  that  of  the  crown,  had  passed  into  "  innocuous 
desuetude."  To  the  scandal  of  all  believers  in  popular 


The  House  of  Lords  Disposes  of  the  Home  Rule  Bill. 

government,  this  measure,  which  had  been  approved  by 
2,477,856  out  of  4,752,698  voters  in  the  recent  elections, 
was  rejected  by  a  body  of  men  who  could  lay  no  claim 
to  voice  the  will  of  the  nation.  Unionists  argued  in  their 
defense  that  this  extraordinary  prerogative  might  be  ex- 
ercised in  a  case  where  an  extra-constitutional  measure  was 
in  question.  The  Lords,  it  was  said,  would  never  presume 
to  interfere  in  the  course  of  ordinary  legislation.  But  the 
Upper  House,  dominated  by  Lord  Salisbury,  has  since 


264 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


plucked  up  courage  to  defeat  other  Liberal  projects.*  The 
Radicals  had  for  years  been  protesting  that  the  House  of 
Lords  was  an  anachronism — a  clog  on  the  wheels  of  pro- 
gress, but  so  long  as  this  degenerate  descendant  of  the 
Witenagemot  was  content  to  remain  a  mere  handful  of 
idle  old  gentlemen  who  amused  themselves  with  ratifying 
the  bills  passed  in  the  Lower  House,  its  abolition  would 
hardly  have  been  seriously  considered.  Recent  obstruction 


KEEP    US  IN  OUR  PROPER    STATIONS 


Labor. 


Salisbury.          Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 


of  Liberal  measures  has,  however,  laid  them  open  to  at- 
tack. Mr.  Labouchere,  the  life-long  foe  of  hereditary  privi- 
lege, recently  introduced  into  the  House  of  Commons  a 
resolution  stating  that  "  the  power  now  enjoyed  by  persons 

Proposed  abo-      who  were  not  elected  to  Parliament  by  the  usual  process 

lition  of  the 

House  of  Lords,   of  the  franchise,  yet  who  are  able  to  prevent  the  passage  of 

bills,  shall  cease."    The  proposition  had  not  been  foreseen 

and  half  the  members  were  absent.    To  the  surprise  and 

amusement  of  the  House  it  was  carried  by  a  vote  of  147  to 

March,  1894.        145.    Both  Mr.  Gladstone  and  Lord  Rosebery  (appointed 

*  Notably  the  Parish  Councils  Bill,  which  aims  to  take  local  interests 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  squire  and  the  parson  and  entrust  them  to  the 
people. 


Growth  of  Democracy. 


265 


premier  on  the  resignation  of  Gladstone)  have  given  ex- 
pression to  the  conviction  that  the  House  of  Lords  must  be 
reformed  if  it  is  to  remain  a  part  of  the  English  constitu- 
tion, but  the  government  could  hardly  adopt  so  hasty  and 


Types  of  our  Hereditary  Legislators. 

ill-considered  a  measure.  It  was  allowed  to  drop,  but  the 
end  is  not  yet.  Not  only  are  the  Radicals  bent  on  the 
destruction  of  every  remnant  of  political  privilege,  but  the 
growing  Labor  party  menaces  all  aristocratic  claim. 

The  political  reforms  achieved  during  the  past  hundred 
years  amount  to  a  complete  transformation  of  the  English 
constitution.  The  oligarchic  monarchy  of  the  Georges  has 
become  the  democratic  monarchy  of  to-day.  The  people, 
through  their  representatives  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
control  the  ministry  and  the  ministerial  policy  in  every  de- 
tail of  domestic  and  imperial  legislation. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

INDUSTRIAL  PROGRESS  DURING  THE  EIGHTEENTH  AND 
NINETEENTH  CENTURIES. 

Illustrative  Readings.  Principal  Inventions. 

Shirley ;  Bronte.  Fly  shuttle,  Kay,  1738. 

Sybil;  Disraeli.  Spinning-jenny,  Hargreaves,  1767. 

All  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men ;    Throstle,  Arkwright,  1769. 

Besant.  Spinning-mule,  Crompton,  1779. 

The  Children  of  Gibeon ;  Besant.      Steam  engine,  Watt,  1775. 
Marcella ;  Mrs.  Humphry  Ward.     Power  loom,  Cartwright,  1785. 
In    Darkest    England ;    General    Cotton  gin,  Whitney,  1793. 

Booth.  Steamboat,  Fulton,  1811. 

Life  and  Labour  of  the  People ;    Railroad,  Stephenson,  1825. 

Charles  Booth. 

THE  industrial  history  of  the  seventeeth  century  offers 
little  that  is  noteworthy.  The  disorders  of  the  civil  war 
caused  a  rise  in  prices  which  was  made  good  only  in  part 
by  the  rise  in  wages.  On  the  whole,  however,  there  was 
little  economic  disturbance.  Gradually  population  had 
adjusted  itself  to  the  changes  consequent  upon  the 
agrarian  revolution  of  the  Tudor  period.  The  growth  of 
domestic  industries  and  the  improvement  in  methods  of 
agriculture  brought  increased  demand  for  labor,  and  by  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  rural  classes  were 
in  a  fairly  prosperous  condition. 

AGRICULTURE. 

A  second  movement  toward  enclosure  comparable  in  ex- 
tent and  significance  to  that  which  transformed  the  face  of 
Tudor  England,  characterized  the  eighteenth  century. 
This  second  onslaught  on  peasant  holdings  was  due,  not  to 
the  demand  for  pasture  land,  but  to  improved  methods  of 

266 


Industrial  Progress.  2U7 

tillage.  Scientific  agriculture,  eloquently  advocated  by  Improved  meth. 
such  men  as  Markham  and  Arthur  Young,  had  become  the  °^eof  asricul- 
fashion  among  English  landlords.  Assiduous  attention 
was  given  to  stock-raising.  Clover  and  rich  grasses  were 
introduced  and  better  breeds  of  cattle  were  kept.  To  the 
arable  land,  marl  and  other  manures  were  applied,  while 
methods  of  cultivation  were  carefully  studied.  The  open 
field  system,  with  its  numerous  proprietors  and  cumbersome 
regulations,  was  abandoned.  The  land  was  redivided  in 
such  fashion  that  each  man  who  could  justify  his  title  re- 
ceived his  share  in  a  single  lot.  This  could  be  cultivated  to 
much  better  advantage  than  the  scattered  holdings  of  the 
old-time  tenure.  These  and  other  improvements  so  in- 
creased the  productive  power  of  the  soil  that  wheat  crops 
averaged  twenty  and  thirty  bushels  to  the  acre,  four  times 
the  thirteenth  century  rate.  The  weight  of  sheep  and 
cattle  was  raised  in  the  same  proportion. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  scientific  agriculturist,  the 
wasteful  and  petty  methods  of  the  medieval  system  were 
intolerable.  Writing  in  1771  of  the  small  farms  in  Buck- 
inghamshire, Young  says  :  "  Nearly  the  whole  country  is 
open  field  land  ;  and  all  lies  in  broad,  high,  crooked  ridges." 
With  the  farmers  using  four  or  five  horses  to  a  plow,  "  the 
tillage  is  miserable,"  the  wheat  crop  yielding  not  more 
than  fifteen  bushels  per  acre.  "In  no  part  of  the  country 
have  I  met  with  husbandry  that  requires  greater  amend- 
ment than  this  ;  such  crops  are,  their  soil  considered,  con- 
temptible." "As  to  the  landlords,  what  in  the  name  of 
wonder  can  be  the  reason  of  their  not  enclosing  !  All  this 
vale  would  make  as  fine  meadows  as  any  in  the  world  !  " 
In  Norfolk,  on  the  other  hand,  where  the  common  fields 
had  long  since  disappeared,  conditions  were,  according  to 
Young,  all  that  could  be  desired.  "  No  small  farmers  could 
effect  such  great  things  as  have  been  done  in  Norfolk.  En- 


268  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 

closing,  marling,  and  keeping  a  flock  of  sheep  large  enough 
for  folding,  belong  absolutely  and  exclusively  to  great  farm- 
ers. .  .  .  Great  farms  have  been  the  soul  of  the  Norfolk  cul- 
ture ;  split  them  into  tenures  for  an  hundred  pounds  a  year, 
you  will  find  nothing  but  beggars  and  weeds  in  the  whole 
country.  The  rich  man  keeps  his  land  rich  and  clean." 

The  progress  of  enclosure  was  accelerated  by  a  new 
demand  for  land.  Merchants,  grown  suddenly  rich  in 
the  East  India  trade,  and  clothiers  who  had  amassed 
fortunes  in  manufacture,  were  eager  to  buy  country  es- 
tates and  to  secure  a  place  among  the  landed  gentry. 
Under  the  spur  of  rising  prices  the  zeal  for  enclosing  over- 
ess  of  came  all  obstacles.  Between  1710  and  1760,  334,974  acres 
Enclosure.  were  enclosed,  while  from  1760  to  1830,  the  land  so  redis- 
tributed amounted  to  nearly  7,000,000  acres.  In  the  second 
period,  4,000  Enclosure  Acts  were  passed  affecting  4,000  out 
of  the  10,000  parishes  in  England.  The  transformation 
was  most  complete  in  the  southern  and  eastern  counties. 
In  Cumberland  and  the  West  Eiding  of  Yorkshire,  in 
Scotland,  Wales,  and  Ireland,  the  small  holdings  still  per- 


The  Water  Supply. 

sist.  The  Enclosure  Acts  were  framed  by  a  Parliament 
made  up  of  landowners  who  gave  but  slight  considera- 
tion to  the  rights  of  tenants  and  freeholders.  Unable 


Industrial  Progress.  269 

to  defend  themselves  against  their  powerful  neighbors, 
small  proprietors  yielded,  not  without  protest,  to  unjust  en- 
croachment, or  rinding  that  they  could  not  compete  in  the 
same  market  with  the  new  cultivators,  they  sold  their  little 
holdings  and  dropped  to  the  rank  of  the  landless  laborer. 
Even  Arthur  Young  laments  the  disappearance  of  the 
freeholders.  The  stalwart  yeomen  who  had  been  the  main 
support  of  Cromwell  and  the  Puritan  revolution  were 
hardly  to  be  found  in  England  at  the  close  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  They  had  been  driven  from  the  land  to 
make  room  for  improved  agriculture  under  the  tenant- 
farmer. 

MANUFACTURES. 

The  decay  of  the  yeomanry  was  hastened  by  the  changed 
conditions  of  the  textile  industries.    With  the  failure  of 
the  gilds,  the  cloth  manufacture  had  fallen  largely  into  the 
hands  of  the  peasant  farmers.    Spinning  and  weaving  were  " 
carried  on  as  a  by-industry  in  thousands  of  cottage  homes.   wd&y  Night." 
The  first  fifty  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  an  epoch 
of  marked  prosperity  for  the  woolen  industry.    Protective 
legislation  shut  out  foreign  goods,  and  the  rural  manufac- 
turers found  a  ready  market  for  their  homespun  broadcloths 
and  serges.    The  income  so  obtained  was  a  welcome  ad- 
dition to  the  produce  of  their  scanty  fields.     Defoe  de- 
scribes the  cloth  industry  near  Halifax  in  glowing  terms.   Daniel  Defoe 
"Not  only  the  valleys,  but  the  sides  of  the  hills,  which  through  Great 
were  very  steep  every  way,  were  spread  with  houses  and  Britain«" 
that  very  thick  ;  for  the  land  being  divided  into  small  en- 
closures, that  is  to  say  from  two  acres  to  six  or  seven  acres 
each,  seldom  more,  every  three  or  four  pieces  of  land  had 
a  house  belonging  to  it.    ...    We  found  the  country  in 
short  one  continued  village — hardly  a  house  standing  out  of 
speaking  distance  from  another.    ...    At  almost  every 
house  there  was  a  tenter  and  on  almost  every  tenter  a ' 


270  The  Growth  of  the  JSnglish  Nation. 

piece  of  cloth.  .  .  I  thought  it  was  the  most  agreeable 
sight  I  ever  saw.  .  .  Look  which  way  we  would,  high  to 
the  tops  or  low  to  the  bottoms,  it  was  all  the  same;  in- 
numerable houses  and  tenters  and  a  white  piece  on  every 
tenter.  At  every  considerable  house  was  a  manufactory  or 
work-house  (dyeing  houses,  scouring  shops,  etc.).  .  . 
Among  the  manufacturers'  houses  are  likewise  scattered  an 


Traveling  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 

infinite  number  of  cottages  or  small  dwellings  in  which 
dwell  the  workmen  which  are  employed,  the  women  and 
children  of  whom  are  always  busy  carding,  spinning,  etc., 
so  that  no  hands  being  unemployed,  all  can  gain  their  bread 
even  from  the  youngest  to  the  ancient ;  hardly  anything 
above  four  years  oldfiut  its  hand's  are  sufficient  to  itself  .  .  .  . 
This  whole  country  is  infinitely  full  of  people  and  those  peo- 
ple all  full  of  business  ;  not  a  beggar,  not  an  idle  person  to 
be  seen,  except  here  and  there  an  almshouse,  where  people 
ancient,  decrepit,  and  past  labor  might  perhaps  be  found." 

__.  ,  The  eastern  counties  were  no  less  prosperous.    "When  we 

Chief  centers 

of  the  woolen     come  into  Norfolk,  we  see  a  face  of  diligence  spread  over 

industry  were 

Norfolk,  wilt-  the  whole  country:  the  vast  manufactures  carried  on  by  the 
shire,  and  the 

West  Riding      Norwich  weavers  employ  all  the  country  round  in  spin- 
of  Yorkshire. 

ning  yarn  for  them,  besides  many  packs  of  yarn  which 

they  receive  from  other  countries,  even  from  as  far  as  York- 


Industrial  Progress. 


271 


shire  and  Westmoreland."  The  manufacturers  assured 
Defoe  that "  there  was  not  in  all  the  eastern  and  middle 
part  of  Norfolk  any  hand  unemployed  if  they  would  work  ; 
and  that  the  very  children  after  four  or  five  years  of  age 
could  every  one  earn  their  own  bread."  Many  of  these 
people  were  self-employed — like  the  medieval  master- 
craftsmen,  owning  their  own  looms  and  spinning-wheels, 
buying  their  own  material  and  carrying  the  finished  stuff 
to  market ;  but  some  who  were  not  able  to  set  up  for  them- 
selves were  working  for  the  manufacturers.  These  fur- 
nished the  yarn  and  even  the  looms,  paying  the  employees 
for  their  labor,  much  as  do  the  clothing  contractors  of 
to-day.  Defoe  describes  the  market  held  in  the  High  Street 
of  Leeds,  where  from  £10,000  to  £20,000  worth  of  cloth  was 
bought  and  sold  twice  a  week.  "Early  in  the  morning,  Alocal  market, 
there  are  tressels  placed  in  two  rows  in  the  street,  some- 
times two  rows  on  a  side,  but  always  one  row  at  least.  Then 
there  are  boards  laid  cross  those  tres- 
sels, so  that  the  boards  lie  like  long 
counters  on  either  side  from  one  end 
of  the  street  to  the  other.  The  cloth- 
iers come  early  in  the  morning  with 
their  cloth,  and,  as  few  clothiers 
bring  more  than  one  piece,  the  mar- 
kets being  so  frequent,  they  go  into 
the  inns  and  public  houses  with  it 
and  there  set  it  down.  ...  At 
seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the 
market  bell  rings.  It  would  surprise 

a  stranger  to  see  in  how  few  minutes,  without  hurry  or 
noise,  and  not  the  least  disorder,  the  whole  market  is 
filled ;  all  the  boards  upon  the  tressels  are  covered  with 
cloth,  close  to  one  another  as  the  pieces  can  lie  longways 
by  one  another,  and  behind  every  piece  of  cloth,  the 


Lamplighting. 


272 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


inventions. 


The  fly  shuttle. 
1738. 


The  spinning- 
jenny.    1767. 


The  mule- 
jenny.    1779. 


clothiers  standing  to  sell  it.  ...  As  soon  as  the  bell 
has  done  ringing  the  merchants  and  factors  and  buyers 
of  all  sorts  come  down  and  coming  along  the  spaces  be- 
tween the  rows  of  boards,  they  walk  up  the  rows  and  down 
as  their  occasions  direct.  .  .  „  When  they  see  any 
cloths  to  their  colors  or  that  suit  their  occasions,  they  reach 
over  to  the  clothier  and  whisper,  and  in  the  fewest  words 
imaginable  the  price  is  stated  ;  one  asks,  the  other  bids  ; 
and  'tis  agree  or  not  agree  in  a  moment." 

Until  1750,  the  implements  employed  in  textile  industry 
were  nearly  as  simple  as  those  of  India.  The  distaff  and 
spindle  had  been  displaced  by  the  spinning-wheel  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  but  the  loom  contained  as  yet  no  essen- 
tial improvement  on  that  used  under  the  Pharaohs.  In  1738, 
one  John  Kay  invented  an  attachment  for  the  loom,  the 
fly  shuttle,  which  enabled  one  man  to  run  the  machine 
^nat  ^ad  heretofore  required  two.  At  the  same  time,  the 
productive  power  was  doubled.  The  fly  shuttle  came  rap- 
idly into  general  use,  and,  since  the  efficiency  of  the  weaver 
was  quadrupled,  the  looms  soon  outstripped  the  spinning- 
wheels.  It  was  difficult  to  provide  sufficient  yarn  to  afford 
employment  for  all.  In  1767  Hargreaves  stumbled  upon 
an  invention  that  restored  proportion.  Upsetting  a 
spinning-wheel  and  observing  it  still  moving,  he  caught 
the  idea  of  an  automatic  arrangement  of  several  spindles 
set  in  motion  by  one  wheel.  The  spinning-jenny,  as  his 
machine  was  called,  carried  at  first  eight  threads,  then  six- 
teen, twenty,  one  hundred  and  twenty,  etc.  At  about  the 
same  time,  Richard  Arkwright  secured  a  patent  fora  spin- 
ning-machine (the  throstle)  constructed  on  a  different 
principle  and  spinning  a  harder,  firmer  thread  than  the 
jenny.  The  best  features  of  the  two  machines  were  com- 
bined in  the  mule-jenny  patented  by  Samuel  Crompton  in 
1779.  The  new  spinner  has  been  improved  till  it  now 


,  Industrial  Progress.  273 

carries  2,000  spindles  and  requires  so  little  attention  that 
several  machines  can  be  managed  by  one  man.  These 
inventions  gave  a  marvelous  impulse  to  textile  industry, 
since  the  spinners  were  once  more  able  to  supply  the 
weavers  with  yarn.  The  new  machinery  was  used  to  great 
advantage  in  making  up  not  only  silk,  wool,  and  flax,  but 
the  far  more  difficult  fiber  cotton.  The  manufacture  of  Tne  invention 
cotton  had  been  neglected  as  impracticable  and  the  im- 
portation  of  cotton  cloth  was  prohibited  lest  it  should 
come  into  injurious  competition  with  the  native  woolen 
goods.  But  Hargreaves'  jenny  spun  a  fine,  strong  thread 
that  could  be  woven  into  the  best  cambric.  Business  enter- 
prise caught  at  this  new  opportunity.  Mills  were  built 
and  machinery  perfected,  vast  quantities  of  raw  material 
were  imported,  and  cotton  cloth  became  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal products  of  English  industry.  The  zealous  manu- 
facturers soon  cast  aside  hand  power  as  quite  too  slow  for 
their  purpose.  Horse  power  and  water  power  were  utilized 
in  turn.  Finally  Watt's  steam  engine  furnished  a  motor, 
at  once  the  most  convenient  and  the  most  efficient.  Cart- 
wright's  power  loom  was  invented  in  1787  and  was  imme-  The  power 
diately  adopted  in  the  cotton  factories.  In  the  manufacture  ' 
of  silk  and  wool  the  hand  looms  held  their  own,  however, 
for  fifty  years  longer. 

The  inventors  who  wrought  this  marvelous  transforma- 
tion in  the  textile  industries  were,  with  few  exceptions, 
men  of  humble  birth.  Hargreaves  was  an  ignorant 
weaver ;  Crompton,  a  spinner  and  a  farmer's  son ;  Ark- 
wright  was  a  poor  wig-maker ;  Cartwright  alone  of  the 
great  inventors  was  a  gentleman  born.  "  It  is  not  extrava- 
gant to  say  that  the  experiments  of  these  humble  mechanics 
have  in  their  results  added  more  to  the  power  of  England 
than  all  the  colonies  ever  acquired  by  her  arms." 

The  modern  factory  was  the  direct  result  of  these  inven- 


274  The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


tions.  The  several  processes,  carding,  spinning,  weaving, 
etc.,  could  not  long  be  carried  on  in  scattered  cottages,  but 
must  be  brought  together  under  one  roof  in  order  that  the 
machinery  might  be  run  by  the  central  motive  power, 
whether  steam  or  water.  Concentration  of  processes  in- 
volved massing  of  operatives — and  here  the  changing  con- 
ditions of  manufacture  cooperated  with  changing  condi- 
tions of  agriculture  to  bring  about  a  remarkable  movement 

Movement  of 

population.        of  population.    The  displaced  yeomen  and  the  agricultural 

laborers,  deprived  of  work  by  the  improved  methods  of 
tillage,  flocked  to  the  factories  in  search  of  employment. 
People  began  to  migrate  from  the  country  to  the  towns, 
from  the  agricultural  regions  of  the  south  to  Yorkshire  and 
Lancashire  where  water  power  was  abundant  and  stores  of 
coal  furnished  an  inexhaustible  fuel.  The  movement  has 
not  yet  ceased  and  its  ultimate  results  are  still  problematic, 
but  it  has  already  transformed  the  agricultural  England  of 
the  Middle  Ages  into  the  manufacturing  and  mercantile 
England  of  the  present  day. 

Furthermore,  with  the  introduction  of  costly  machinery, 
tween°caprtaie~   capital  acquired  an  entirely  new  significance  in  industry. 
Labor  had  heretofore  been  the  all-important  element  in 
production,  but  from  the  time  that  money  was  required  to 
build  and  furnish  a  mill,  capital  has  played  the  principal 
e.  0.,  Sir  Rich-    part.     The  man  who  could  bring  to  bear  upon  the  new 
wright,  sir        industrial   opportunity   not   only   a  considerable  fortune 
Robert  Owen,     but  business    ability  and    organizing   genius,   was    easily 
master  of  the  situation.     He  might  direct  the  forces  at  his 
disposal  as  absolutely  and   as   dexterously   as   a  general 
maneuvers  his  regiments  and  artillery.     The  laborer,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  degraded  to  the  position  of  a  de- 
pendent.   Working  on  material  and  with  machinery  that 
belonged  to  another,  with  no  share  in  the  product  beyond 
his  wages,  he  lost  all  personal  concern  for  his  work.    The 


The  figures  indicate  the  popu- 
lation per  square  mile  in  regions 
where  the  density  exceeds  500. 


[Reproduced  from  Chisholm's  "  Handbook  of  Commercial  Geography,"  by  permission  of 
Longmans,  Green  &  Co.] 


276 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Deterioration  of 
the  laborers. 


Textile  statis- 
tics, 1890. 
Factories, 
7,190 ;  spindles, 
53,641,062; 
looms,  822,489 ; 
employees, 
1,084,631:  wo- 
men, 410,608 ; 
children, 
86,499. 


interests  of  employer  and  employed,  no  longer  identical, 
came  frequently  into  direct  conflict.  Misunderstanding 
and  distrust  grew  into  a  well-defined  hostility.  With  the 
factory  organization  of  industry,  arose  the  modern  antag- 
onism between  capital  and  labor. 

The  deterioration  of  the  laboring  classes  in  the  first  five 
decades  of  the  factory  system  goes  far  to  justify  this  hos- 
tility. Machinery  has  rendered  muscle  and  skill  unneces- 
sary. In  the  factory  operative,  who  has  but  to  overlook  a 
self-impelled  mechanism,  the  essential  quality  is  patient, 
unremitting  attention.  Endurance  is  more  important  than 
strength  or  ingenuity.  The  craftsman  suddenly  found  his 
labor  a  drug  in  the  market,  for  unskilled  laborers,  women, 
the  very  children,  could  do  the  work  required  as  well  as  he. 
Women  and  children  were  even  preferred  because  they  were 
more  dexterous  and  docile.  The  effect  was  to  reverse  the 
relations  of  the  home.  Wives  and  children  became  the 
bread-winners,  while  grown  men  vainly  sought  employ- 
ment or  degenerated  into  contented  idleness.  It  is  true 
that  new  industries  were  being  developed  by  the  require- 
ments of  the  factory.  Machinery  was  to  be  constructed 
and  mills  put  up.  England's  inexhaustible  supplies  of  coal 
and  iron  were  discovered  and  must  be  brought  to  the 
surface.  Railroads  and  steamship  lines  were  opened  up  to 
carry  the  products  of  English  looms  to  distant  markets. 
The  factory  era,  indeed,  witnessed  a  marvelous  expansion 
in  all  departments  of  industry  ;  but  the  new  opportunities 
fell  to  the  succeeding  generation.  The  spinners  and  weavers 
thrown  out  of  work  by  the  recent  inventions  could  not  im- 
mediately secure  employment  as  miners  and  machinists. 
The  enlarged  demand  for  labor  might  ultimately  absorb 
the  whole  labor  supply,  but  it  could  not  avert  temporary 
distress.  Quite  as  serious  as  the  displacement  of  skilled 
laborers  were  the  evil  effects  of  the  inferior  conditions  of 


Industrial  Progress. 


277 


employment  on  the  operatives.  Machinery  knows  no 
fatigue.  In  order  to  get  as  much  as  possible  out  of  his 
investment,  the  master  was  tempted  to  work  his  employees 
as  long  and  hard  as  was  humanly  possible.  Hours  varied 
with  the  policy  of  the  individual  employer,  but  a  fifteen- 
hour  day  was  not  thought  excessive,  and  cases  are  recorded 
where  operatives  were  regularly  kept  at  work  for  eighteeu 


In  Manchester 


An  Iron  Furnace. 

hours  out  of  the  twenty-four.  Motives  of  economy  dictated 
that  the  mills  should  be  cheaply  built.  Poor  light,  bad  ven- 
tilation, defective  drainage,  were  the  rule.  Conditions  out- 
side the  factory  were  even  more  deplorable.  People  crowded 

into  the  factory  towns  far  in  excess  of  house  accommoda-  one  tenth  of 

the  population 

tions.  Huddled  together  in  attics  and  cellars  and  hastily  Jived  in  eel- 

i£trs. 

built  tenements,  they  were  forced  to  live  under  conditions 

that  bred  disease.  The  physique  of  the  factory  operative 
rapidly  degenerated,  while  the  death  rate,  markedly  higher 
in  manufacturing  towns  than  elsewhere,  told  a  sad  tale  of 
misery. 

The  suffering  of  the  laboring  classes  was  hardly  noted  by 
economists  and  statesmen  of  that  day.  All  energies  were 
engaged  in  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  all  attention  was 
fixed  upon  the  marvelous  inventions  by  which  production 
was  multiplied  a  hundredfold.  Enormous  fortunes  were 
amassed  in  manufactures  and  trade,  and  the  national 


278 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Wealth  of 
Great  Britain 
in  million 
pounds : 
1774,  1,100 
1800,  1,740 
1812,  2,190 
1822,  2,600 
1833,  3,730 
1840,  4,100 
1865,  6,113 
1875,  8,584 
1885, 10,037 


Machine  break- 
ing. 


Luddite  Riots. 


Trades  unions 
and  strikes. 


wealth  augmented  by  leaps  and  bounds.  The  increase  of 
population,  then  regarded  as  a  sure  index  of  prosperity, 
was  not  less  marked.  England's  population  has  been 
quadrupled  and  her  wealth  multiplied  by  ten  in  the  past 
one  hundred  years. 

REVOLT    OF  LABOR. 

The  laborers  were,  however,  not  consoled  by  the  ultimate 
advantages  of  the  use  of  machinery.  They  saw  plainly 
enough  that  the  immediate  results  were  disastrous,  and 
blindly  thought  to  set  the  matter  right  by  destroying  their 
dangerous  rival.  Kay's  fly  shuttle  was  so  resented  that  the 
inventor  was  forced  to  flee  the  kingdom.  Hargreaves' 
house  was  broken  open  and  his  spinning-jenny  smashed  in 
pieces.  Arkwright's  mill  was  wrecked  by  an  infuriated 
mob,  and  Peel's  factory  at  Altham  suffered  a  similar  fate. 
Serious  riots  broke  out  among  the  silk-weavers  of  Spital- 
field  and  Blackburn.  In  1811,  a  formidable  insurrection 
was  set  on  foot  by  the  hosiers  of  Nottingham.  Forming 
themselves  into  secret  associations,  the  mutinous  laborers 
attacked  the  houses  of  the  manufacturers  and  destroyed 
the  dreaded  knitting  frames.  Such  outbreaks  of  popular 
frenzy  were  summarily  suppressed  as  offenses  against  public 
tranquillity. 

The  strike  was  a  more  rational  method  of  resistance. 
This,  however,  involved  concerted  action  on  the  part  of  the 
laborers,  and  was  hardly  less  incriminating  than  open 
violence.  The  manufacturers  readily  secured  assistance 
from  Parliament.  The  Coalition  Act  of  1800  reasserted  the 
old-time  prohibition  against  "  covin  and  conspiracy."  Any 
persons  combining  to  advance  the  rate  of  wages,  reduce  the 
hours  of  labor,  or  in  any  manner  coerce  the  masters  of  a 
trade,  were  condemned  to  jail  and  hard  labor.  Repressive 
legislation  was,  however,  found  to  be  of  no  avail.  Secret 
associations  existed  wherever  laborers  were  congregated  in 


Industrial  Progress. 


279 


the  factory  towns,  and  their  methods  were  more  desperate 
because  illegal.  The  policy  of  repression  was  maintained 
for  twenty-five  years.  In  1824  Parliament  appointed  a 
commission  to  inquire  into  the  effect  of  the  Coalition 
Act.  It  was  reported  that  "those  laws  had  not  only  not 
been  efficient  to  prevent  combinations  either  of  masters  or 
workmen,  but,  on  the  contrary,  had,  in  the  opinion  of 
many  of  both  parties,  a  tendency  to  produce  mutual  irrita- 
tion and  distrust;  and  to  give  a  violent  character  to  the 
combinations,  and  to  render  them  highly  dangerous  to  the 

peace  of  the  community." 
The  statute  was  therefore 
repealed.  A  sudden  and 
marked  increase  in  the  num- 
ber of  strikes  induced  this 
employers'  Parliament  to 
impose  certain  restraints  on 
trades  societies  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  but  absolute 
The  Postman. 

prohibition  was  never  again 

attempted.  In  the  Trades  Union  Acts  of  1871  and  1876, 
such  associations  were  given  a  legal  status.  For  the  past 
fifty  years  the  unions  have  been  a  notable  influence.  They 
have  accomplished  not  merely  a  considerable  advance  of 
wages,  but  they  have  united  to  bring  about  a  legal  limi- 
tation on  the  hours  of  labor,  and  to  denounce  such  con- 
ditions in  mine  and  workshop  as  militate  against  the  well- 
being  of  the  laborer. 

The  trades  unions  have  not  been  alone  in  their  endeavor 
to  secure  for  the  operatives  higher  wages,  shorter  hours, 
and  better  conditions  of  labor.  Throughout  the  nine- 
teenth century  the  cause  of  the  working  class  has  been 
championed  by  philanthropists  and  statesmen  who  have 
thought  it  wiser  to  protect  the  laborer  against  degrading 


Repeal  of  the 
Coalition  Act. 
1824. 


Average  rise 
of  wages  from 
1835  to  1885, 
70  per  cent. 


Factory  legis- 
lation. 


280 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Sir  Robert  Peel 
and  Factory  Act 
of  i8oa. 


e.  g.,  Mrs. 
Browning's 
"Cry  of  the 
Children." 


Factory  Act 
of  1833. 


conditions  than  to  build  hospitals  and  almshouses  for  the 
victims  of  an  iniquitous  system.  First  to  protest  against  the 
injurious  effects  of  factory  labor  was  Sir  Robert  Peel,  who 
called  attention  to  the  sufferings  of  the  so-called  appren- 
tices— the  children  sent  from  the  parish  poorhouses  to  be 
bound  out  to  the  manufacturers.  The  Act  of  1802  applied 
only  to  apprenticed  children  working  in  cotton  and  woolen 
mills.  It  required  that  they  should  have  suitable  lodging, 
clothing,  and  instruction;  their  working  day  was  limited  to 
twelve  hours,  between  six  in  the  morning  and  nine  at 
night;  and  the  factory  where  they  were  employed  was  to  be 
"lime-washed  twice  a  year  and  duly  ventilated."  The 
law  was  evaded  by  unscrupulous  manufacturers,  who  had 
no  difficulty  in  hiring  free  children  from  their  needy 
parents  and  guardians.  Owen  and  Peel  pressed  for  further 
legislation  that  should  protect  these  no  less  unfortunate 
victims  of  the  new  order.  A  series  of  abortive  measures 
prepared  the  way  for  the  searching  investigation  conducted 
by  the  Factory  Commission  of  1833.  The  report  revealed  a 
state  of  things  that  roused  the  country  to  horrified  protest. 
Children  of  tender  years  were  employed  for  long  hours  and 
under  unwholesome  conditions.  Robbed  of  sleep  and 
healthful  recreation,  these  toiling  little  ones  fell  an  easy 
prey  to  diseases  and  deformities  incident  to  the  nature  of 
their  work.  Deprived  of  opportunity  for  education,  sub- 
jected to  demoralizing  influences,  they  rapidly  degenerated 
into  weakness,  brutality,  vice.  England  stood  aghast  at  the 
evident  degradation  of  her  working  classes.  A  vigorous 
effort  was  made  in  the  interests  of  industrial  freedom  to 
prevent  remedial  legislation  ;  but  the  economists  were  over- 
borne by  the  weight  of  evidence  against  the  "let-alone" 
policy,  and  the  eager  advocates  of  national  aggrandizement 
were  silenced.  The  Act  of  1833  forbade  the  employment  in 
factories  of  children  under  nine  years.  Children  between 


Industrial  Progress,  281 


nine  and  thirteen  years  of  age  might  be  employed  but 
eight  hours  a  day,  while  no  person  under  twenty-one  years 
and  no  woman  might  be  employed  at  night.  Subsequent 
legislation  has  provided  schooling  for  factory  children  on 
the  "half-time"  system,  regulated  the  use  of  children  children  re- 
as  chimney  sweeps,  and  forbidden  the  employment  of 
children  or  women  underground.  In  1847,  after  a  battle 
royal  between  the  champions  of  protection  and  the  advo- 
cates of  laissez  faire,  the  Ten  Hours  Act  was  passed,  re-  Ten  Hours  Act. 
ducing  to  ten  the  number  of  hours  in  the  working  day  for 
women  and  children.  This  practically  meant  a  ten-hour 
day  for  all  factory  employees,  since  the  men  could  not 
profitably  be  kept  at  work  after  their  nimble  assistants  were 
withdrawn.  Recent  legislation  has  extended  the  blessings 
of  protection  to  every  factory  and  workshop  where  women 
and  children  are  employed.  Safe  and  wholesome  con- 
ditions of  work  are  secured  by  minute  requirements  as  to 
ventilation  and  drainage  and  the  guarding  of  machinery.  Employer»s 
Legislation  is  now  pending  designed  to  render  the  em- 
ployer  liable  to  damage  in  case  of  accident  for  which  he  can 
reasonably  be  held  responsible. 

The  well-being  of  the  factory  operative  is  now  far  in  ad- 
vance of  that  of  the  agricultural  laborer.  In  the  condition 
of  the  rural  population  there  is  still  much  to  deplore. 
Unsanitary  cottages,  low  wages,  excessive  hours  of  toil,  the 
employment  of  women  and  children  at  brutalizing  tasks — 
these  and  many  other  evils  have  alarmed  the  philanthropist 
and  attracted  attention  to  the  need  of  reform.  Little  has 
as  yet  been  accomplished  here.  The  Agricultural  Union 
movement  so  bravely  inaugurated  by  Joseph  Arch,  and 

protective  legislation  forced  through  against  the  bitter  op-  Agricultural 

Children's  Act, 

position  of  the  landed  interest,  have  alike  proved  ineffec-   1873.  repealed 

in  1876. 

live.    The  degradation  of  the  agricultural  laborer  is  to-day 

a  blot  on  the  fair  fame  of  England. 


282 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


PAUPERISM. 

Any  review  of  the  social  and  industrial  conditions  of 
modern  England  would  be  incomplete  without  some  notice 
of  the  growth  of  pauperism  and  the  efforts  made  to  check 
this  menace  to  the  nation's  health.  The  industrial  up- 
heaval of  the  last  century  accomplished,  like  the  corres- 


Poor  rate  per 
head  of  popu- 
lation : 

1750,  2s.  2d. 

1760,  3s. 

1770,  3s.  6d. 

1780,  4s.  5d. 

1790,  5s.  lid. 

1800,  8s.  5d. 

1810,  10s.  3d. 

1818, 13s.  4d. 

1820, 12s.  2d. 

1830,  9s.  9d. 

*  *  *  * 

1890,  5s.  9d. 


Old-time  Fire  Engine. 

ponding  revolution  in  the  sixteenth  century,  results  both 
good  and  bad.  In  each  case  an  immense  gain  in  material 
wealth  was  achieved  at  the  expense  of  the  well-being  of  the 
laborers.  Machinery,  no  less  than  the  sheep  pastures,  de- 
prived thousands  of  the  means  of  self-support  and  drove 
them  to  seek  aid  at  the  hands  of  parish  officers  or  private 
almsgivers.  From  1750  to  1820,  the  years  in  which  the 
factory  system  was  becoming  established,  the  growth  of 
pauperism  was  appalling.  The  poor  rate  augmented  till  it 
reached  the  alarming  proportions  of  one  fourth  the  national 
revenue,  and  became  to  the  taxpayer  an  intolerable  bur- 
den. The  phenomenal  increase  in  the  number  of  paupers 
was  due  in  part  to  unwise  methods  of  relief,  in  part  to  the 
demoralizing  effect  of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  in  part  to  the 
mischievous  corn  laws  that  not  infrequently  raised  the  price 
of  bread  to  famine  rates  ;  but  the  main  cause  was  the  in- 


Industrial  Progress. 


283 


dustrial  change  that  rendered  opportunity  for  employment 
uncertain  and  left  the  laborer  dependent  on  precarious 
wages.  No  legislation  has  yet  touched  the  fundamental 
difficulty.  Parliament  has  undertaken  little  more  than  the 
regulation  of  relief.  The  burden  of  the  poor  rate  is  now  but 
one  third  of  what  it  was  in  1834,  and  the  number  of 
paupers  has  been  greatly  reduced,  but  there  is  still  the 
problem  of  the  "submerged  tenth."  % 

The  most  hopeful  feature  of  the  times  is  the  awakening 
of  the  social  conscience.  People's  Palaces,  Toynbee  Halls, 
improved  tenements,  university  extension,  these  and  as 
many  more  generous  efforts  to  better  the  conditions  of  life 
and  labor  for  the  working  classes  bear  witness  to  the  new 
spirit  of  brotherhood  that  controls  the  thought  of  to-day. 
This  new  ideal,  astir  in  England,  has  found  noble  expression 
through  the  voices  of  Carlyle,  Ruskin,  and  William  Morris. 


Salisbury.       Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
"PROP0TTY,  PROPTJTTY,  PROPUTTY." 
Doesn't  thou  'ear  my  'erse's  legs,  as  they  canters  awaay  ? 
Proputty,  proputty,  proputty — that's  what  I  'ears  'em  saay.    .    . 
Proputty,  proputty  s  iv'rything  'ere,  an',  Sammy,  I'm  blest 
If  it  isn't  the  saameoop  yonder,  fur  them  as 'as  It  it's  the  best.    .    . 
Coom  oop,  proputty,  proputty — that's  what  I  'ears  'em  saay, 
Proputty,  proputty,  proputty,  canter  an'  canter  awaay." 

—  Tennyson1  s  "Northern  Farmer :  New  Style." 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE  EXPANSION  OF  ENGLAND. 

Illustrative  Readings. 

History  of  Ireland ;  McCarthy.         Macaulay's  Essays  on  Clive  and 
The  Virginians;  Thackeray.  Hastings. 

The  Lady  of  Fort  St.  John  ;  Mrs.     Tales  from  the  Hills  ;  Kipling. 
Catherwood. 

THE  BRITISH  ISLES. 

THE  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  had 
no  existence  before  the  seventeenth  century.  Scotland  was 
an  independent  and  jealous  state.  Ireland  was  but  half 
conquered  and  wholly  uncivilized,  the  English  within  "  the 
Pale"  existing  as  an  alien  colony  in  the  midst  of  a  hostile 
race.  The  amalgamation  of  the  three  kingdoms  was  ac- 
complished under  the  Stuarts  and  the  Commonwealth. 
The  accession  of  James  I.  established  a  dynastic  connec- 
tion between  England  and  Scotland,  while  the  civil  war 
afforded  Cromwell  opportunity  to  reduce  the  Irish  to  sub- 
jection. The  formal  union  with  Scotland  was  not,  how- 
Union  with 

Scotland,  1707;    ever,  effected  until  1707,  while  the  incorporation  of  Ireland 
with  Ireland, 

1800.  was  delayed  till  1800.    The  reconciliation  of  conflicting  in- 

terests has  been  a  delicate  matter.  In  the  case  of  Scotland, 
race  feeling  and  religious  differences  were  outweighed  by 
the  signal  industrial  advantage  of  free  trade  with  England 
and  England's  colonies  ;  but  the  breach  between  England 
and  Ireland  has  not  been  so  readily  healed.  Both  king- 
doms are  represented  in  the  English  Parliament,  and  are 
thus  secured  a  proportionate  influence  in  national  legisla- 
tion. 

2S-1 


The  Expansion  of  England.  285 


COLONIAL  EXPANSION. 

The  discovery  of  America  and  of  the  new  route  to  India 
by  way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  revealed  two  new  worlds,  Discovery  and 
an  eastern  and  a  western,  to  the  maritime  enterprise  of  ^American* 
Europe,  and  the  explorations  of  the  sixteenth  century  continent- 
opened  up  vast  realms  of  untold  wealth  inviting  conquest 
and  colonization.  The  seafaring  nations  of  western  Europe 
were  not  slow  to  respond  to  the  call.  Spain,  being  first  in 
the  field,  took  possession  of  the  richest  regions,  Mexico, 
Peru,  and  the  West  Indies.  Portugal,  more  enterprising 
but  less  fortunate,  pushed  her  interests  in  the  East  In- 
dies, in  West  Africa,  and  in  Brazil.  Holland  followed  in 
the  wake  of  Spain  and  Portugal.  Getting  a  foothold  in  the 
East  Indies,  she  established  trade  relations  with  the  spice 
islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago.  At  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  moreover,  and  along  the  Hudson  River,  she  planted 
flourishing  colonies.  France  entered  later  upon  the  quest, 
but  secured  extensive  domains  on  the  Western  Continent. 
Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  her  adventurous  mari- 
ners explored  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and  the  Great  Lakes, 
crossed  to  the  Mississippi  and  so  on  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
thereby  establishing  exclusive  right  to  the  two  great  river 
valleys.  The  French  settlements  were,  however,  mere 
military  posts  maintained  to  secure  trade  with  the  Indians 
and  to  protect  the  Jesuit  mission  stations.  Despotism, 
civil  and  religious,  such  as  characterized  the  France  of 
Louis  XIV.,  was  not  favorable  to  the  growth  of  colonies. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  England  was  the  last  of  the 
great  European  powers  to  enter  upon  colonial  enterprise. 

The  Cabots  had  been  assisted  by  Henry  VII.  to  undertake 

,   ,,      ,.,     ,,  John  and  Sebas- 

a  voyage  of  discovery.      They  explored  the  North  Amen-  tian  Cabot. 

1498 

can  coast  from  Cape  Breton  to  Albemarle  Sound,  and  to 
this  portion  of  the  New  World  the  English  thus  secured 
preemptive  right.  Unsuccessful  attempts  to  plant  colonies 


286 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Frobisher. 
1576. 

Raleigh. 
1.584. 


The  English 
colonies. 


Commercial 
wars. 


were  made  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  by  the  doughty  sea- 
captain,  Frobisher,  and  the  courtly  gentleman,  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  but  no  permanent  settlements  were  effected,  till 
the  seventeenth  century.  Ultimate  success  was  due  not  so 
much  to  the  trading  companies  established  by  James  I.  as 
to  the  determination  of  the  colonists  who  came,  some  in 
pursuit  of  gain,  but  more  to  seek  in  the  New  World  the 
political  and  religious  freedom  that  was  denied  them  at 
home.  The  Puritan  settlements  struck  deep  root  in  the 
virgin  soil  of  America  and  thrived  under  the  beneficent 
neglect  of  a  government  too  much  occupied  with  home 
politics  to  concern  itself  with  colonial  interests.  Not  till 
the  close  of  the  century  did  England  awake  to  the  fact 
that  this  chain  of  seaboard  colonies  might  become  a  source 
of  strength  and  profit  to  the  mother  country,  and  must  be 
defended  against  their  dangerous  French  rivals. 

England's  part  in  the  European  wars  of  the  eighteenth 
century  was  determined  •  by  her  purpose  of  winning  and 
maintaining  a  predominant  interest  in  America.  From  the 
continental  point  of  view,  the  occasion  for  the  war  was 
usually  dynastic,  but  England's  object  was  uniformly  the 
extension  of  commercial  and  colonial  interests.  It  was 
one  long  duel  between  France  and  England,  "a  second 
hundred  years'  war."  The  contending  armies  fought  not 
only  on  European  battle-fields,  but  in  Acadian  forests,  on 
the  heights  above  Quebec,  before  the  rude  fortresses  that 
controlled  the  unknown  vallej-s  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Missis- 
sippi. England  won  nothing  in  Europe  beyond  an  added 
prestige,  but  wide  territories  were  annexed  to  her  American 
domain.  By  the  Peace  of  Utrecht  (1713)  she  gained  Nova 
Scotia  and  Newfoundland.  In  the  Peace  of  Paris  (1763), 
France  was  forced  to  surrender  the  bulk  of  her  American 
possessions,  Canada  and  all  the  rich  region  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  together  with  her  islands  in  the  West  Indies. 


The  Expansion  of  England.  287 

In  the  American  campaigns,  efficient  aid  had  been  ren- 
dered by  the  English  settlers,  who,  being  not  priests  and 
soldiers  but  bona  fide  colonists,  took  up  arms  against  the 
French,  not  merely  out  of  loyalty  to  the  mother  country, 
but  in  defense  of  their  homes.  Grown  prosperous  and 
strong  in  the  wholesome  conditions  afforded  in  the  un- 
spoiled wilderness,  they  had  established  representative 
governments  far  more  liberal  than  the  English  model, 
opened  a  profitable  trade  with  the  West  Indies,  set  up 
manufactures  of  their  own,  and  were  in  a  fair  way  to 
become  independent.  Turgot,  a  wise  French  statesman  of 
the  day,  compared  colonies  to  fruit  which  hangs  on  the 
tree  only  until  it  is  ripe.  England's  colonies  in  America  England's 

colonial  policy, 
were  nearly  ripe,  but  the  English  government  failed  to 

perceive  it.  The  colonial  policy  of  George  III.  and  his 
cabinet  was  suggested  by  the  perverted  notion  prevalent  in 
that  day  of  the  use  to  be  made  of  such  dependencies.  A 
colony  was  regarded  not  as  an  extension  of  national  terri- 
tory— an  opportunity  for  national  expansion — but  as  a  piece 
of  property,  an  estate  to  be  exploited  in  the  interest  of  the 
country  owning  it.  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Holland  treated 
their  foreign  possessions  as  mere  sources  of  supply  for  gold 
and  silver,  tropical  fruits,  and  spices.  England's  colonies 
produced  none  of  these,  but  they  might  be  made  a  market 
for  home  products  and  a  source  of  raw  material  for  the  rising 
manufactures  of  England.  "  The  only  use  of  American  col- 
onies or  West  Indian  islands,"  said  Lord  Sheffield,  "is  the 
monopoly  of  their  consumption  and  the  carriage  of  their 
produce."  In  conformity  with  this  frankly  expressed  doc- 
trine of  national  greed,  the  English  government  imposed 
restrictions  on  colonial  trade  which  were  calculated  to  in- 
sure its  profits  to  the  home  country.  All  exports  must  be 
sent  to  England,  and  all  trade  must  be  carried  on  in 
English  vessels.  Colonial  industries  were  discouraged,  the 


288 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


The  American 

War. 

1776-1783. 


Conquest 
of  India. 

1748-1763. 


manufacture  of  woolen  goods  and  the  smelting  of  iron 
being  actually  forbidden.  The  Americans,  having  pro- 
tested against  this  partisan  legislation  in  vain,  were  devis- 
ing means  of  securing  some  constitutional  representation 
of  their  interest  in  Parliament,  when  the  home  government 
assumed  the  questionable  right  of  taxing  the  colonies. 
This  was  resisted,  and,  resistance  being  met  by  com- 
pulsion, the  colonists  declared  themselves  independent  of 
the  mother  country.  In  the  war  that  ensued,  England 
was  handicapped  by  the  three  thousand  miles  of  stormy 
sea  that  lay  between  her  and  her  unruly  subjects, 
while  the  colonists  had  the  advantage  of  fighting  011 
familiar  ground.  France,  moreover,  was  glad  to  wipe  out 
old  scores  by  lending  aid  to  the  Americans.  In  the  end, 
England  lost  the  thirteen  original  colonies,  together  with 
all  the  territory  lying  east  of  the  Mississippi,  the  better 
part  of  her  American  dominion. 

In  the  Eastern  hemisphere,  as  well  as  in  the  Western, 
the  superabundant  energy  of  the  English  race  found  oppor- 
tunity for  achievement.  During  the  seventeenth  century, 
trade  interests  had  been  developed  in  India  by  the  East 
India  Company,  and  three  fortified  posts,  Madras,  Bom- 
bay, and  Calcutta,  had  been  established.  French  mer- 
chants had  also  opened  commercial  relations  with  the 
Orient,  and  had  secured  Indian  trading  posts — notably 
Pondicherry,  a  town  on  the  east  coast  but  a  few  miles  from 
Madras.  Conflict  between  the  rival  races  was  inevitable. 
Both  companies  took  advantage  of  dissensions  between 
the  native  princes  to  extend  their  power,  while  the 
home  governments  supported  each  its  own  subjects.  The 
East  Indian  wars  were  but  one  phase  of  the  contest  for 
supremacy  that  was  being  fought  out  during  this  century 
in  Europe  and  America.  The  same  year  that  achieved  the 
transfer  of  the  best  part  of  America  from  France  to  Eng- 


The  Expansion  of  England.  289 

land  witnessed  the  expulsion  of  the  French  from  India. 
By  this  victory  the  English  Company  was  left  to  the  un- 
hampered pursuit  of  its  own  interests.  There  was  slight 
capacity  for  resistance  in  the  native  peoples.  India  was 
but  a  "geographical  expression."  The  dense  population 
was  made  up  of  many  races,  alien  and  hostile.  The 
Mussulman  Empire  had  fallen  into  decay,  and  government 
was  reduced  to  anarchy.  Rival  princes  and  satraps  levied 
tribute  and  waged  war  to  the  infinite  woe  of  the  people. 
It  was  not  a  difficult  matter  for  men  who  could  command 
the  superior  military  and  diplomatic  tactics  of  Europe  to 
gain  ascendency  amid  such  weakness  and  confusion.  Clive  Misgovern- 
and  Hastings  made  the  most  of  their  opportunity.  Some- 
times by  treachery,  sometimes  by  force,  sometimes  by 
legitimate  negotiation,  the  native  princes  were  induced  to 
surrender  their  sovereignty,  and  one  province  after  another 
was  compelled  to  pay  tribute.  In  1773,  the  Company's 
charter  was  renewed  on  terms  which  gave  the  English 
government  the  right  to  supervise  Indian  affairs.  The 
civil  administration  was  made  responsible  to  the  crown, 
and  the  unblushing  greed  which  had  characterized  earlier 
relations  with  the  natives  gave  way  to  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility for  the  well-being  of  the  country.  Still  the  English 
rule  was  both  alien  and  corrupt,  and  was  bitterly  resented 
by  upper-class  Hindoos.  A  widespread  mutiny  among  the 
native  troops  convinced  the  home  government  that  radical 
reform  was  imperative.  In  1858,  the  East  India  Company's 
charter  was  withdrawn,  and  the  country  so  long  under  its 
control  became  a  dependency  of  the  crown.  The  oriental  Queen  vio- 
empire  thus  acquired  is  ten  times  the  area  of  the  United  Empress  of6 
Kingdom  and  more  than  half  as  large  as  the  United  States.  India>  1877' 
Its  population  amounts  to  one  seventh  that  of  the  whole 
globe.  One  hundred  different  languages  are  spoken  within 
its  confines. 


290 


The  Growth  of  the  English  Nation. 


Exports  to 
England, 
£32,234,  389. 
Imports  from 
England, 
£31, 177,968. 


e.  ff.,  Crimean 
War.    1854-56. 


Discovery  of 

Australia. 

1769-1777. 


1837-40. 


This  apparently  splendid  acquisition  has  thus  far  been  of 
but  dubious  advantage  to  England.  The  government  of 
India  is  a  heavy  responsibility,  far  more  perplexing  than 
that  of  Ireland.  Vexed  questions  of  race  and  religion 
baffle  the  ministry  at  every  turn,  and  frustrate  the  efforts 
of  the  best-intentioned  officers.  The  administration  is  as 
un-English  as  might  well  be — a  bureaucratic  service  main- 
taining itself  by  military  force.  India  can  never  be  Angli- 
cized, for  the  climate  is  an  impossible  one  for  the  English 
race.  According  to  the  last  census,  there  were  but  100,000 
British-born  living  in  India.  It  is  true  that  the  commer- 
cial interests  are  very  great  and  tend  constantly  to  grow 
more  profitable,  but  England  pays  dear  for  her  practical 
monopoly  of  the  Indian  trade.  Russia  is  her  jealous 
neighbor,  and  conflict  of  interests  on  the  Bosphorus  and  in 
the  Orient  have  more  than  once  involved  England  in  war. 

During  the  nineteenth  century  a  new  colonial  empire 
has  been  built  up  in  the  far  East,  by  successive  discoveries 
and  colonization.  Australasia  was  visited  by  both  Portu- 
guese and  Dutch  explorers  early  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
but  it  remained  for  the  famous  English  navigator,  Captain 
Cook,  to  identify  the  new  continent.  Colonization  followed 
close  upon  discovery.  The  new  acquisition  was  at  first  used 
as  a  dumping-ground  for  convicted  criminals,  but  the 
country  was  opened  to  free  colonization  in  1821.  The  rich 
grazing  lands  attracted  immigrants  and  the  several  colonies 
developed  steadily  in  wealth  and  population.  The  discovery 
of  gold  fields  in  1851  confirmed  this  industrial  prosperity. 

As  Britain's  colonial  dependencies  developed  in  wealth 
and  population,  the  question  of  self-government  was  sure 
to  be  broached.  Agitation  in  favor  of  "home  rule"  took 
shape  first  in  Canada.  The  attempt  to  suppress  the  move- 
ment having  failed,  Parliament,  profiting  by  the  unhappy 
experience  of  1776,  granted  a  responsible  government.  Since 


The  Expansion  of  England.  291 

1867  Canada  has  had  a  constitution  "  similar  in  principle  to 
that  of  the  United  Kingdom."  The  governor-general, 
acting  for  the  queen,  has  only  authority  to  appoint  the 
ministry  that  can  command  a  majority  of  the  legislative 
body.  Responsible  government  has  subsequently  been  ex- 
tended to  the  Australian  provinces  and  to  Cape  Colony, 
and  sanguine  statesmen  look  forward  to  the  day  when  all 
British  colonies  shall  be  joined  in  a  great  federation,  each 
bearing  such  relations  to  the  imperial  Parliament  as  one  of 
the  United  States  bears  to  our  general  government. 


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INDEX. 


Abbey  lands,  the,  distributed  by  j 
Henry  VIII.,  173;  not  restored, 
177. 

"  Adullamites,"  the,  251. 

Adulterine  castles,  72. 

Agincourt,  150. 

Agricola,  25. 

Agricultural  Holdings  Act.  257. 

Agriculture,  under  the  Romans, 
26 ;  in  the  twelfth  century,  72 ; 
under  the  Tudors,  188;  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  266-269. 

Aidan,  37. 

Alfred,  saves  Wessex,  39 ;  reorgan- 
izes the  kingdom,  40. 

American  War,  the,  233-235,  238. 

Anderida,  29. 

Angevins,  the,  characteristics  of, 
71. 

Angles,  the,  invade  Britain,  27,  29. 

Anglesey,  25.    See  Mona. 

Anglo-Saxons,  the,  characteristics 
of|  32-35. 

Anjou,  62 ;  lost  by  John,  89  ;  finally 
lost,  153. 

Anne,  222,  227. 

Anne  Boleyn,  171. 

Anselm,  conies  to  England,  63 ; 
quarrels  with  Henry  I.,  66,  90. 

Apprentices,  Statute  of,  187. 

Aquitaine,  duchy  of,  dowry  of 
Eleanor,  73  ;  finally  lost,  153. 

Arkwright,  Richard,  272,  273,  278. 

Armada,  the,  10  ;  destruction  of, 
185, 187. 

Arthur,  nephew  of  John,  89. 

Arthur,  son  of  Henry  VII.,  168. 

Articles,  the  ten,  173 ;  the  six,  174 ; 
the  forty-two,  176;  the  thirty- 
nine,  182. 

Artisans,  the,  136-138 ;  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  276. 

Aryans,  the,  22. 

Athelney,  Alfred  takes  refuge  in, 
39. 

Augustine,  converts  Kent,  35. 

Australia,  14, 17  ;  discovery  of,  290. 

Avignon,  132. 

Babington  Plot,  185. 

Bacon,  Francis,  195 ;  impeached, 
200. 

Bacon,  Roger,  97,  125. 

Badon,  Mount.    See  Mount  Badon. 

Baeda,  37,  40. 

Ball,  John,  142  ;  put  to  death.  144. 

Balliol,  John,  declared  king  of 
Scotland,  106. 


Bank  of  England,  suspends  specie 
payment,  241. 

Bannockburn,  108. 

Barebone's  Parliament,  origin  of 
the  name,  210. 

Bar  net,  J57. 

Barons'  War.  the,  98,  102, 103. 

Barri,  Gerald  de,  83. 

Beaconsfleld,  Earl  of,  becomes 
prime  minister,  256 ;  defeated, 
258. 

Beaufort,  Henry,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, 152. 

Becket.  See  Thomas,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury. 

Bede,  "  Ecclesiastical  History  "  of, 
37,40. 

Bedford,  John,  Duke  of,  152  ;  dies, 
153. 

Benedictines,  the,  72. 

Benevolences,  158 ;  declared  illegal, 
159. 

Bernicia,  29. 

Black  Death,  the,  119,  139. 

Black  Prince,  the,  116,  117  ;  dies,  119, 
120. 

Blake,  Admiral,  gains  victories 
over  Holland.  211. 

Bolingbroke,  viscount,  232. 

Bosworth,  159. 
•  Both  well,  Earl  of,  career  of,  182. 

Bouvines,  92. 

Bretigny,  Peace  of,  117. 

Bright,  John,  supports  reform,  251 ; 
opposes  Home  Rule,  261. 

Britain,  origin  of  name,  22 ;  In- 
vaded by  the  Romans,  24 ;  under 
Roman  rule,  25-27 ;  conquered  by 
the  Saxons,  30. 

Britons,  the,  early  condition,  22, 24- 
27 ;  conquered  by  the  Saxons,  28- 
30. 

Bruce,  Robert,  108. 

Buckingham,  GeorgeVilliers,  Duke 
of,  199 ;  impeached,  201 ;  dies,  202. 

Bunyan,  213. 

Burgh,  Hubert  de,  justiciar  under 
Henry  III.,  94,  95. 

Burke,  Edmund,  supports  Ameri- 
cans, 234 ;  attacks  French  Revo- 
lution, 237. 

Burns.  243. 

Bute,  Earl  of  233. 

Butt,  Isaac,  leads  Irish  party,  257. 

Byron,  Lord,  243. 

Cabinet,  the,  defined,  226;  corrup- 
tion in,  230 ;  established,  238. 


295 


296 


Index. 


Cade,  Jack,  154. 

Csedmon,  37. 

Caesar,  describes  the  Celts,  22,  23; 
invades  Britain,  24. 

Calais,  153 ;  lost,  179. 

"Canterbury  Tales,"  the,  124-127. 

Cartwright,  invents  the  power 
loom,  273. 

Catharine  of  Arragon,  marries 
Prince  Arthur,  168;  divorce  of. 
170-172. 

Catholic  Association,  the,  253. 

Catholic  emancipation,  253. 

Catholics,  the  Roman,  legislation 
against,  182-184;  enforced  by 
James  I.,  198;  favored  by  Laud, 
202;  disabilities  increased,  214, 
217,  218;  favored  by  Charles  II. 
and  James  II.,  216,  220;  nothing 
done  at  Revolution  of  1688,  225 ; 
disabilities  removed,  253. 

Caxton,  William.  165. 

Celts,  the,  14,  22,  23, 30. 

Chamberlain,  Joseph,  opposes 
Home  Rule,  261. 

Charles  I.,  200-209. 

Charles  II.,  213-220. 

Charles  VI.,  of  France,  150, 151. 

Chartists,  the,  248-251,  259. 

Chatham,  Earl  of.  234.  See  Pitt, 
William  (the  Elder). 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  124, 127, 131. 

Chronicle,  the  Anglo-Saxon,  40; 
quotations  from,  49,  51,  58. 

Churchill,  Lord  Randolph,  leader 
of  "  fourth  party,"  259. 

Cistercians,  the,  65. 72. 

Clarence,  Duke  of,  154. 

Clarendon,  Earl  of,  214-216.  See 
Hyde,  Edward. 

Clarendon,  Assize  of,  74;  Constitu- 
tions of,  75. 

Closure,  defined,  258. 

Cnut,  44,  45. 

Coalition  Act,  278,  279.  See  Covin 
and  conspiracy. 

Coalition  ministry  of  Fox  and 
North,  235. 

Cobbett,  243. 

Colet,  194. 

Colonial  expansion,  285-291. 

Columba,  37. 

Commerce,  190, 191,  211,  286. 

Common  lands,  188. 

Commons,  House  of,  origin  of,  106, 
118.  119;  electors  of,  162;  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  228;  re- 
formed, 247,  252,  259. 

Commonwealth,  the,  209-213. 

Com  purgation,  system  of,  34. 

Confirmation  of  the  Charter,  108, 
111. 

Conservatives.  See  Parliamentary 
parties. 

Conventicle  Act,  214. 

Convention  Parliament,  213. 

Corn  Laws,  242 ;  repealed,  249. 


Copyhold,  162. 

Corporation  Act,  214. 

Country  party.  See  Parliamentary 

parties. 
I  Covenant,  accepted  by  Parliament, 

Covin   and   conspiracy,  statute 

against,  140. 

Cranmer,   Archbishop   of  Canter- 
bury, 178. 
Crecy,  116. 

Crompton,  invents  the  mule-jenny, 
,  272,273. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  206-213,  247,  252 
,  Cromwell,  Richard,  212,  213. 
Cromwell,  Thomas,  172-175. 
Curia  Regis.  55,  74,  76. 
Danby,   Earl    of,  217 ;   impeached. 
;     218. 
!  Danelaw,    the,    formation   of,  39 ; 

conquered  by  Wessex,  40. 
Danes,  the,  invade  England,  38-10 ; 

conquered.  41 ;  return,  43-45. 
Darnley,     Henry,    Lord,    marries 

Mary,  181, 182. 

Declaration  of  Indulgence,  issued 
by  Charles  II.,  217 ;  by  James 
II.,  221. 

Deira,  kingdom  of,  29. 
Deorham,  30. 

Derby,  Earl  of,  forms  ministry, 
i  251, 252. 

Disabling  Act,  the,  218. 
Dispensers,  the,  113,  114. 
Disraeli,  252, 256.  See  Beaconsfleld, 

Earl  of. 

Domesday  Survey,  55,  56,  67,  69. 
Dominic,  St.,  96. 

Dominicans,  the,  land  in  England, 
:  96. 

Douay,  college  at,  184. 
Dover,  Treaty  of,  216. 
j  Druids,  the,  described  by  Caesar, 
I     23,25,26. 
'  Dunstan,  41. 

Ealdormen,  the,  Saxon  leaders,  32, 
I  34 ;  power  of,  42,  43 ;  disarmed  by 
I  Cnut,  44. 

Earldoms  under  Cnut,  44. 
Earls,  the.  32,  44,  45. 
East  Anglia,  31,  42. 
East  India  Company,  incorporated, 
191;    conquers   India,   288;    mis- 
governs, 289. 
Ecclesiastical  courts,  jurisdiction 

of,  65 ;  quarrel  over,  75,  76,  78. 
Edgar,  40,  41. 

Edgar,  the  Atheling,  50-52,  59. 
Edmund  Ironsides,  44. 
Edward,  the  Confessor,  45,  46. 
Edward  I.  and  the  barons,  101 ;  at 
Evesham,  102,  103 ;  reign  of,  103- 
108 

!  Edward  II.,  112-114. 
Ed  ward  II  I.,  114-120. 
Edward  IV.,  crowned    king,  155; 
rule  of,  156-158. 


Index. 


297 


Edward  V..  158-159. 

Edward,  Prince  of  Wales.  See 
Black  Prince. 

Edward,  Prince  of  Wales,  son  of  ] 
Henry  VI.,  born,  154  ;  claims  set 
aside,  155;  slain,  167. 

Edward  VI.,  175-177. 

Edwin,  king  of  Northumberland, 
31 ;  accepts  Christianity,  36. 

Egbert,  king  of  Wessex,  unites 
England,  31,  38. 

Eleanor,  of  Aquitaine,  marries 
Henry  II. ,73:  dies.  89. 

Elizabeth,  179-186,  190,  191. 

England,  character  of  the  country, 
14-16. 

Enclosures,  188,  268. 

Erasmus,  194. 

Essex,  29  ;  conquered,  31. 

Ethandun,  39. 

Ethel  bert,  35. 

Ethelred,  43.  44. 

Evesham,  102. 

Evictions,  188. 

Exchequer,  Court  of,  74. 

Exclusion  Bill,  218,  219. 

Factory  Legislation,  279-281. 

Falkland,  viscount,  206. 

Fawkes,  Guy,  198. 

Fenians,  the,  254. 

Feudalism,  in  England,  42,  43;  des- 
cribed, 54,  55. 

Five-Mile  Act,  214. 

Flambard,  Ranulf,  57,  65. 

Flanders,  controlled  by  France, 
121 ;  trade  with,  136, 187. 

Flemings,  the,  come  to  England, 
136,  190. 

Folk-moot,  described,  34. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  235,  237. 

France,  feudalism  in,  42 ;  invaded 
by  Northmen,  47 ;  war  with,  78, 
89,  106,  107,  115-118,  150-153;  be- 
comes a  centralized  state,  167 ; 
war  renewed,  179 ;  rival  of  Spain, 
179 ;  war  renewed,  201 ;  alliance 
with,  215,  216 : 237,  241,  286. 

Francis  d'  Assisi,  St.,  96. 

Franciscans,  the,  96, 131. 

French  Revolution,  the,  237,  241. 

Friars,  the,  95-97, 133. 

Fyrd,  the,  39. 

Gaels,  the,  22. 

Gaul,  24. 

Gaunt,  John  of,  120,  121 ;  attacks 
the  Church,  133. 134. 

Gavestoii.  Piers,  113. 

George  I.,  227,  228. 

George  11.,  228,  dies,  231. 

George  III.,  policy  of,  232 ;  reign  of, 
232-235. 

George  IV.,  245. 

Gesiths.  the,  32. 

Gilds,  the,  85,  86;  craft-gilds,  137- 
139  ;  under  the  Tudors,  189. 

Gladstone,  William  Ewart,  251; 
leads  Liberals,  254 ;  defeated,  255; 


prime  minister,  258;  brings  in 
Home  Rule  Bill,  260;  defeated, 
261 ;  becomes  prime  minister,  262; 
on  the  House  of  Lords,  265. 

Gloucester,  Robert  of.  82. 

Gloucester,  Duke  of,  son  of  Ed- 
ward HI.,  121. 

Gloucester,  Duke  of,  brother  of 
Henry  V.,  151, 152. 

Gloucester,  Duke  of,  brother  of 
Edward  IV.,  158,  159.  See  Rich- 
ard III. 

Godwin,  Earl  of  Wessex,  44,  45. 

Good  Parliament,  120. 

Grand  Remonstrance,  206. 

Great  Council,  55,  77  ;  composition, 
93 ;  name  changes,  100. 

Great  Charter,  82,  93-94. 

Gregory  VII.,  65,  66. 

Grey,  Earl  of.  237  ;  becomes  prime 
minister,  245,  246. 

Grey,  Elizabeth,  marries  Edward 
IV.,  156. 

Grey,  Lady  Jane,  177. 

Grosseteste,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  96, 
99. 

Gualo,  papal  legate,  94. 

Guises,  the,  184. 

Gunpowder  Plot,  the,  198. 

Habeas  Corpus  Act,  220. 

Hampden,  John,  resists  ship- 
money,  203 ;  In  Long  Parliament, 
206. 

Hampton  Court  conference,  198. 

Hanover,  House  of,  given  the 
throne,  227. 

Hargreaves,  invents  the  spinning- 
jenny,  272,  273. 

Harold,  son  of  Godwin,  45;  crowned 
king,  50 ;  dies,  51. 

Hartington,  Lord,  261. 

Hastings,  Battle  of,  51. 

Hastings,  Warren,  289. 

Henry  Iy  59;  dies,  60. 

Henry  II.,  62 ;  comes  to  throne,  71 ; 
reforms  of,  72-77;  dies,  78;  work,  79. 

Henry  III.,  crowned,  94 ;  misrule 
of,  98-103. 

Henry  IV.,  147-149. 

Henry  V.,  149;  invades  France, 
150 ;  dies,  151. 

Henry  VI.,  151 ;  crowned,  152 ;  be- 
comes insane,  153,  154;  over 
thrown.  155 ;  dies,  157. 

Henry  VII.,  159  ;  reign  of,  167-169. 

Henry  VIII.,  Ib9 ;  wishes  divorce, 
170-172  ;  attacks  Church,  172-174 ; 


popularity,  175. 
Henry  of  Na 


avarre,  185. 
Hereford,  Duke  of,  122.    See  Henry 

IV. 
Heretics,  Statute  for  the  burning  of, 

148. 

Hereward,  the  Wake,  53. 
Higrh  Commission,  Court  of,  203. 
Holland,   rivalry    with,   211;    war 

with,  215,  216. 


298 


Index. 


Home  Rule,  290 ;  demand  for,  257 ; 
supported  by  Gladstone,  260. 

Home  Bule  Bill,  first,  260 ;  defeated, 
261;  second,  passes  the  House  of 
Commons,  262;  thrown  out  by 
the  Lords,  263. 

Huguenots,  the,  183, 185. 

Hundred  court,  33. 

Huntington,  Henry  of,  83. 

Hyde,  206.    See  Clarendon,  Earl  of. 

Iberians,  the,  22. 

India,  conquest  of,  288 ;  misgovern- 
ment  of,  289. 

Innocent  III.,  90,  91. 

Instrument  of  Government,  210. 

Interdict,  England  under,  90. 

lona,  9  ;  monastery  in,  37. 

Ireland,  physical  characteristics  of, 
9,  14.  19,  20;  Henry  II.  in,  77; 
rebellion  in,  206;  represented  in 
Parliament,  212;  union  with 
England,  238 ;  relations  with  Eng- 
land since  Cromwell,  252,  253 ; 
population  of,  254 ;  Church  in,  254- 
255.  See  Home  Rule. 

Irish  Land  Act,  255,  258. 

Irish  question,  the,  252-262. 

Irish  University  Bill.  255. 

Ironsides.  Cromwell's,  207,  208,  211. 

Isabel,  wife  of  Edward  II.,  114. 

Jacobins,  the,  240,  242,243. 

Jacobites,  the,  227,  232. 

James  I.,  obtains  crown,  197;  char- 
acter of  reign,  198-200. 

James  II.,  Duke  of  York,  attempt 
to  exclude  from  throne,  218; 
character  of,  220 ;  issues  Declara- 
tion of  Indulgence,  221 ;  de- 
throned, 222,  223. 

Jesuits,  the,  184. 

Jesus,  Society  of,  183. 

Jewish  money-lenders,  111. 

Jingoism,  256. 

Joan  of.  Arc,  152. 

John,  intrigues  of,  79,80, 81 ;  charac- 
ter of,  88 ;  loses  Normandy,  89  ; 
quarrels  with  pope,  90;  with 
barons,  91,  92 ;  grants  Charter,  93; 
dies,  94. 

Junto,  the  Whig,  227. 

Juries,  system  of,  74,  82. 

Justice,  early  system  of,  33. 

Jutes,  the,  27-29. 

Kay,  John,  invents  fly  shuttle,  272, 
278. 

Kent,  settled  by  Jutes,  28;  con- 
verted to  Christianity,  35. 

King's  Bench,  Court  of,  104. 

Knights  of  the  shire,  in  Parlia- 
ment, 106, 119. 

Laborers.  187-188, 191-193,  276-281. 

Laborers'  Dwellings  Act.  257. 

Laborers,  Statute  of,  139, 140. 

Labouchere,  proposes  to  abolish 
House  of  Lords,  264. 

Lancaster,  House  of,  157, 158. 

Lancaster,  Thomas  of,  113. 


Land  Purchase  Bill,  260. 

Lanfranc,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, 66. 

Langland,  William,  124, 127-129. 

Langton,  Stephen,  made  arch- 
bishop, 90;  leads  the  barons,  92, 
94,95. 

Latimer,  Bishop,  163 ;  put  to  death, 
178. 

Latimer,  Lord,  120, 121. 

Laud,  Archbishop,  202,  204. 

Leicester,  Earl  of.  See  Montfort, 
Simon  de. 

Levelers,  the,  211. 

Lewes,  102. 

Liberals.  See  Parliamentary  par- 
ties. 

Litany,  English,  176. 

Liveries.  See  Maintenance  and 
livery. 

Lollards,  the,  135,  141 ;  legislation 
against,  148 ;  put  down,  150. 

London,  under  the  Romans,  26 ; 
taken  by  theSaxons, 29  ;  acquires 
self-government,  84;  center  of 
trade,  187. 

Longchainp,  William,  justiciar,  80, 
81. 

Long  Parliament,  205;  dissolved, 
209. 

Lords,  House  of,  origin,  118;  abol- 
ished, 209 ;  restored,  210 ;  resists 
reform,  245-247 ;  resists  Home 
Rule,  262;  proposal  to  abolish, 
264,265. 

Lords  Appellant,  121, 122. 

Lords  Ordainers,  113. 

Louis  IX.  of  France,  102. 

Louis  XIV.  of  France,  21.5-217,  222. 

Luther,  Martin,  170. 

Lyons,  120,  121. 

Magna  Charta,  88.  See  Great  Char- 
ter. 

Maine,  conquered  by  William  I., 
50;  lost  by  John,  89. 

Maintenance  and  livery,  161,  162; 
statutes  against  enforced,  168. 

Malmesbury,  William  of,  49,  83. 

Manchester  Massacre,  the,  244. 

Maletot,  108. 

Manufactures,  138. 189,  269. 

Map,  Walter  de,  83. 

March,  Earl  of,  149. 

Margaret  of  Anjou,  153,  155-157. 

Marlborough,  Duke  of,  227. 

Marston  Moor,  208. 

Mary  II.,  wife  of  William  III.,  222, 
223. 

Mary  Stuart,  181, 182 ;  put  to  death, 
185. 

Mary  Tudor,  170, 177-179. 

Matilda,  daughter  of  Henry  I., 
claims  the  crown,  60-62. 

Mercia,  29;  supremacy  of,  31 ;  ac- 
cepts Christianity,  36. 

Merciless  Parliament,  121, 122. 

Model  Parliament,  106. 


Index. 


299 


Monasteries,  dissolution  of,  173. 

Monmouth,  Duke  of,  '220. 

Monmouth,  Geoffrey  of,  83. 

Monopolies,  protested  against,  191 ; 
revived,  199,  20:5. 

Montfort,  Simon  de,  101 ;  leads  the 
barons,  102;  killed,  103. 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  put  to  death, 
173;  and  the  Renaissance,  194,195. 

Mortimer,  Roger,  114. 

Mount  Bad  on,  29. 

Napoleon,  241. 

Naseby,  208. 

Navigation  Act,  211. 

Navy,  the,  39 ;  under  the  Tudors, 
190;  under  Cromwell,  211. 

Netherlands,  the,  revolt  against 
Spain,  183,  184. 

New  Model  army,  207. 

Norman  Conquest,  50-o6;  results  of, 
62-70. 

Normandy,  48;  reunited  with  Eng- 
land, 59;  revolts  against  Henry 
II.,  78  ;  lost,  89. 

Normans,  the,  48,  49  ;  in  England, 
62,  82. 

North,  Lord,  233 ;  resigns,  235. 

Northampton,  155. 

Northmen,  the,  38 ;  on  the  Conti- 
nent, 43, 47. 

Northumberland,  29;  conquered, 
31,  40 ;  accepts  Christianity,  36, 37. 

Nottingham,  206. 

Gates,  Titus,  218. 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  253. 

O'Connor,  Feargus,  250. 

Odo,  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  58. 

Offa,  31. 

Oldcastle,  Sir  John,  150. 

Old  Sarum,  229. 

Open  field,  described,  188. 

Orange,  William  of,  222. 

Ordeal,  the,  34. 

Oswiu,  36,  37. 

Oxford,  Parliament  of,  101. 

Oxford,  University  of,  begin- 
ning of,  64,  70;  importance  of,  84  ; 
effect  of  friars  on,  96. 

Palmerston,  viscount,  251. 

Papal  jurisdiction  in  England, 
abolished,  173 ;  restored,  177 ;  abol- 
ished, 180. 

Paris,  Peace  of,  286. 

Parliament,  100;  of  Simon  de 
Montfort,  102  ;  Model,  106 ;  of  1322, 
114;  acquired  power,  118,  224,  225. 
See  Great  council,  Witenagemot. 

Parliamentary  corruption,  228-230, 
233. 

Parliamentary  reform,  237-238,  245- 
248,  252,  259. 

Parnell,  Charles  Stuart,  258. 

Parties,  Parliamentary,  country 
party,  217  ;  Whig,  219,  226,  227,  230, 
232,  233,  236 ;  Tory,  219,  226,  227,  232, 
237  ;  Patriot.  231 :  Liberal,  247,  251, 
254,  256,  258, 260, 261 ;  Conservative, 


247,  256,  258,  259,  261,  262;  Liberal 
Unionists,  261 ;  Nationalists,  258- 
262;  Radical,  247,  248,  251,  264. 

Paston,  Clement,  163. 

Paulinus,  36,  37. 

Pauperism,  191-193, 282-283. 

Peasants'  Revolt,  the.  134,  141-144. 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  249,  253,  280. 

Pembroke,  Earl  of,  94. 

Penda,  king  of  Mercia,  31,  36. 

People's  Charter,  the,  248. 

Petition  of  Right,  201. 

"  Piers  the  Plowman,"  127-130. 

Pilgrimage  of  Grace,  173. 

Pitt,  William  (the  Elder),  231,  234. 

Pitt,  William  (the  Younger),  235, 

Poitiers,  116, 117. 

Poor  Law,  Elizabethan,  193;  Of  1834, 

247,  283. 

Popish  Plot,  218. 
Praemunire,  Statute  of,  131. 
Prayer  Book,  the,  176, 180,  214. 
Presbyterian  party  in  Parliament, 

207,  208. 

Pride's  Purge,  209. 
Protection,  242,  249. 
Protectorate,  the,  210-213. 
Provisions  of  Oxford,  the,  101. 
Provisors,  Statute  of,  131. 
Puritanism,  198,  213. 
Puritans,  the,  rise  of,  183, 198 ;  perse- 
cuted by  Laud,  202. 
Purveyance,  112. 
Pym,  205,  206;  dies,  207. 
Recognitions,  74. 
Reform  acts.     See  Parliamentary 

reform. 
Reformation,  the,  in  England,  166- 

168,  198. 

Reign  of  Terror,  237. 
Renaissance,  the,  194, 195. 
Retainers,  161. 
Revolution  of  1688,  222,  223 ;  results 

of,  224-226. 
Richard  I.,  80-82. 
Richard  II.,  121-123. 
Richard   III.,  169.   See  Gloucester, 

Duke  of. 

Richmond,  Duke  of,  235. 
Ridley,  Bishop  of  London,  178. 
Ridolfl  Plot,  185. 
Rights,  Bill  of,  225. 
Rising  in  the  North,  182. 
Rizzio,  181. 

Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy,  57-59. 
Rollo,  the  Ganger,  48. 
Romans,  the,  Invade  Britain,  24-28. 
Rosebery,  Lord,  265. 
Rump  Parliament,  209. 
Russell,  Lord  John,  245,  248,  251. 
St.  Albans,  155. 
Salisbury  oath,  55,  56. 
Salisbury,  Marquis  of,  259,  263. 
Saxon  shore,  the  defense  of.  28. 
Saxons,  the,  conquer  Britain, 27-32; 

characteristics  of,  32-35. 


300 


Index. 


Scotland,  physical  characteristics, 
17 ;  language,  22 ;  succession  to 
throne  of,  105;  war  with,  106, 108  ; 
under  Mary  Stuart,  181,  182 ;  re- 
sists Charles  I.,  204-205;  supports 
Long  Parliament,  207  ;  intrigues 
with  Charles  I.,  208;  united  with 
England,  284. 

Scutage,78,  93. 

Senlac,  51. 

Serf,  68,  69 ;  In  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, 138-140, 145. 

Settlement,  Act  of,  225,  227. 

Seven  Years'  War,  231. 

Shelley,  243. 

Ship-money,  203. 

Somerset,  Edward  Beaufort,  Duke 
of,  154,  155. 

Somerset,  Duke  of,  protector  under 
Edward  VI.,  175, 176. 

Spain,  167,  169;  connection  with 
England,  177 ;  at  war  with  Eng- 
land. 184-185,  201,  211. 

Star  Chamber,  Court  of,  168,  203. 

Stephen,  claims  the  crown,  60-62. 

Strafford,  Earl  of.  See  Wentworth, 
Sir  Thomas. 

Stourbridge,  fair  at,  86,  87. 

Suetonius  Paullinus,  24, 25. 

Supremacy,  Act  of,  173,  177,  180. 

Tallage,  82. 

Ten  Hours  Act,  281. 

Test  Act,  182,  217,  220. 

Teutons,  the,  Invade  Britain,  27-30. 
See  Anglo-Saxons. 

Thegns,32,  42. 

Thirty  Years'  War,  199. 

Thomas,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, 75-77. 

"Thorough,"  policy  of,  203. 

Tinchebrai,  59. 

Toleration,  207,  208,  210. 

Toleration  Act,  225. 

Tory.    See  Parliamentary  parties. 

Tostig,  brother  of  Harold,  50. 

Towns,  growth  of,  69,  70,  84. 

Towton.  155. 

Trades  union  Acts.  279. 

Troyes,  Treaty  of,  151, 152. 

Tyler,  Wat,  143,  144. 

Tyndale,  William,  170. 

"  Ulster  right."  255. 

Uniformity,  Act  of,  180,  214. 

Union  with  Scotland,  284;  with 
Ireland,  284. 

Universities,  the,  64, 84,  96,  97. 

Utopia,  195. 

Utrecht,  Peace  of,  286. 

Villeins.  See  Serf. 


Vortigern,  28. 

Wales,  physical  characteristics  of, 
14, 16, 17 ;  population  of,  20 ;  speech 
of,  22 ;  unconquered.  30 ;  c  o  n- 
quered.  40 ;  subdued  by  Edward 
1.,  101,  105. 

Wallace,  Sir  William,  108. 

Wallingford,  Treaty  of,  62 ;  exe- 
cuted, 72. 

Wakefleld,  155. 

Walls,  the  Roman,  25. 

Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  230,  231: 

Walter,  Hubert,  minister  of  Rich- 
ard I.  and  John,  81,  90. 

Wars  of  the  Roses,  155-157 ;  effects, 
159,  160. 

Warwick,  Richard  Neville,  Earl  of, 
156, 157. 

Warwick,  Earl  of,  minister  of 
Edward  VI.,  176,  177. 

Watling  Street,  39. 

Watt,  James,  invents  steam  en- 
gine, 273. 

Wedmore,  Treaty  of.  39. 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  245,  246,  250. 

Wentworth,  Sir  Thomas,  attacks 
Buckingham,  201;  supports 
Charles  I.,  202,  203,  205. 

Wessex,  supremacy  of,  31 ;  overrun 
by  the  Danes,  39 ;  conquers  the 
North,  40. 

West  Indies,  285. 

West  Saxons,  29.    See  Wessex. 

Whig.    See  Parliamentary  parties,. 

M'hitby,  37. 

Wight,  Isle  of,  9,121. 

William  I.  (the  Conqueror),  49 ;  con- 
quers England,  50-56. 

William  II.  (Rufus),  57,  58. 

William  III.  (Prince  of  Orange), 
222;  offered  the  crown,  223;  charac- 
ter of  reign,  226,  227. 

Winchester,  Statute  of,  104. 

Winwaed,  36. 

Witenagemot,  described,  42;  con- 
tinued in  great  council,  55. 

Wolsey,  Thomas,  cardinal,  169,  170; 
overthrown,  171, 172. 

Words  worth,  242. 

Wyclif,  John,  124;  and  Church  re- 
form, 132-135 ;  doctrines  accepted, 
148. 

York,  25,  26. 

York,  James,  Duke  of,  218.  See 
James  II. 

York,  Richard,  Duke  of,  154, 155. 

Young,  Arthur,  267,  269. 

"  Young  Ireland,"  253. 


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